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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Chemistry : Chemistry

Postgraduate Course: Concepts in Medicinal and Biological Chemistry PGT (CHEM10073)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Chemistry CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course will introduce some important concepts in biological and medicinal chemistry, including aspects of biomolecular structure and function, the chemistry of enzymes and biological catalysis, biosynthesis of natural products, the chemical biology of organic co-factors, biological inorganic chemistry and introduce some key principles in drug discovery, design and optimisation.
Course description The course consists of 30 lectures providing a foundation to important aspects of medicinal and biological chemistry and to underpin the advanced material delivered in semester 2. A sound knowledge of chemistry is essential for understanding the structures, reactivities and interactions of biomolecules. The course will cover biomolecular structure and chemistry, enzymes and biological catalysis, biosynthesis of natural products, the chemical biology of organic co-factors, biological inorganic chemistry and foundations in medicinal chemistry. Lectures will be supported with workshops/tutorials.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 30, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 9, Summative Assessment Hours 3, Revision Session Hours 6, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 148 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 75 %, Coursework 25 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Written Exam 75%; Coursework 25%
Feedback Each lecture module has an associated small-group tutorial/workshop. This will provide students with practice at problem-solving and tackling coursework-like questions. It is also an opportunity for students to discuss any issues pertaining to the lecture course.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)Concepts in Medicinal and Biological Chemistry PGT3:00
Resit Exam Diet (August)Concepts in Medicinal and Biological Chemistry PGT3:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Appreciate how to expand their chemical knowledge as applied to biological chemistry through various modes of teaching and learning.
  2. Understand and describe fundamental aspects of biological and medicinal chemistry across three broad areas (organic, physical and inorganic). Specifically understand the structure of biological molecules (including nucleic acids, lipids and proteins); the structure and function of post-translational modifications of proteins; the concepts of kinetics and thermodynamics and the use of enzyme assays to generate such data; the biosynthesis of natural products; the chemical biology of organic cofactors; biological inorganic chemistry.
  3. Take part in discussions in the tutorials and lab classes.
  4. Record, analyse and interpret experimental data and relate to core material.
  5. Handle powerful molecular graphics package (PyMol) and utilise protein databases and data files. Analyse and compare 3D structures of biomolecules, build small molecules in 3D space. Measure and calculate simple properties of biomolecules and relate structure to function.
Reading List
Any good biochemistry textbook; e.g. Stryer; Patrick ¿ An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry 6th Edition; Clayden - Organic Chemistry.

Post-translational modifications - book by Walsh - published review in Angewandte Chemie.

Kinetics/thermodynamics and spectroscopy covered by general chemistry text e.g. Blackman.

Reading lists pertaining to each course unit will be given by the lecturers
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Data analysis and processing
Written communication (coursework)
Team work (coursework)
Independent learning (use core lecture material to explore current research areas)
Keywordsmedicinal chemistry,biological chemistry,synthesis and reactivity,enzyme kinetics.
Contacts
Course organiserDr Mathew Horrocks
Tel: (0131 6)50 4787
Email: mathew.horrocks@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Zoe Burger
Tel: (0131 6)50 7546
Email: zoe.burger@ed.ac.uk
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