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Medicinal Chemistry. Vol. I. By Alfred Burger. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, 1951. xviii + 577 pp. 16 × 23.5 cm. Price $10
SCIENTIFIC EDITION
August, 1951
Medicinal Chemistry. 1‘01. I. By ALFREDBURGER. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, 1951. xviii 577 pp. 16 x 23.5 cm. Price $10. Here is the first of two volumes of a treatise presenting an approach to medicinal chemistry for which individuals interested in that subject have recognized a need for a long time. The approach to the subject and its treatment by the author recognizes that a medicinal chemist must first of all be experienced in organic chemistry. In addition to this qualification, he needs to possess more than a superficial knowledge of biochemistry, pharmacology, microbiology, and other basic sciences contributing to the foundation materials of medicine. Professor Burger quite correctly stresses the fact that few individuals can be expert in more than one or two of these basic sciences. The medicinal chemist, to be successful, however, must be sufficiently well versed in the cognate sciences t o visualize a composite picture of the many ramifications involved in the possible development of a synthetic organic compound from a n idea into a drug. In the actual evolution of a drug from an idea t o clinical use, research teamwork among specialists in several different branches of the basic medical sciences is necessary. Obviously the better each member of a team understands the specialty of the other, the better it will function. Professor Burger’s book can be used advantageously t o accomplish a better understanding between chemists, pharmacologists, and clinicians. For teaching purposes there has been a tendency in some pharmacy schools for instructors to classify organic medicinal chemicals according to structurc. Some teachers of medicinal chemistry in pharmacy schools, on the other hand, have long maintained that a more rational approach is a classification according to pharmacological action and practical use. The proponents of this approach claim it is best, because of the lack of correlation between structure and physiological activity, and because the several activities exhibited by drugs in a single chemical classification make pharmacological discussions repetitive and a classification according t o structure somewhat illogical. T o support this contention, many examples can be cited comparable to that of the amines, which occur in analgetics, vasopressors, antihistamines, bacteriostatics, and antimalarials. Moreover, a t least a year of organic chemistry and a course in pharmacology should constitute the minimum prerequisites for the study of medicinal chemistry, and this background makes a purely chemical classification of synthetic drugs unnecessary. In this book, the author has arranged drugs according to their actual use. Drugs acting on various functions of the body are first considered. These functional or pharmacodynamic drugs will be followed in the second volume by drugs used in combating pathogenic microorganisms. A few special chapters, such as those on vitamins, parenteral fluid therapy, diagnostic agents (Volume I ) and the hormones, chemotherapy and antibiotics planned for inclusion in Volume I1 are interspersed in suitable places. The scope of Professor Burger’s book is broad, but so is the subject. Excellent judgment has been exercised in the choice of subjects discussed and in
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417
the manner of presentation. Methods of biological testing are reviewed for each class of drugs, and the biochemical aspects of the subject are stressed throughout. The reader is effectively oriented in relation to the subject in the first two chapters, which include an introduction and a brief history of the development of medicinal chemistry. Chapter I11 is devoted to a discussion of the relationship between chemical structure and biological activity, and is followed by a chapter on physical properties and their influence on biological activity. The principles and problems involved in the biological study of drugs are briefly but clearly discussed in the next chapter, while restricted responses of cells to drugs, including tachyphylaxis, habituation, tolerance, and acquired resistance are described in Chapter VI. Following the excellent treatment of these background subjects, the author then proceeds to discuss individual classes of drugs, arranged according to their pharmacological activity. I n general, the same design is followed for each group. Theories of action and certain fundamental biological and medical considerations are outlined and then the chemical aspects of well-chosen representative members of each group, usually now being used as drugs, are stressed. The discussion of the chemistry of synthetic drugs dispels any notion one might form from the content of the first six chapters that the book IS a treatise on chemical pharmacology. The main emphasis throughout is on the chemical aspects of the subject. The text is well documented with pertinent selected references, but no effort has been made to furnish complete bibliographies. This is as it should be in a textbook suitable for use by senior and graduate students. A short subject index to the first volume is provided, and a more comprehensive index for both volumes is planned for Volume 11. The aim of the author in writing this book is t o familiarize the more advanced reader with past achievements of medicinal Chemistry, with current thoughts and hypotheses, and with the direction of needed research in the whole field. This aim will, i t is believed, be fully realized. The author and the publisher deserve a great deal of credit for making this book available at this time. Despite the fact that the author considers illeduinal Chemistry a graduate treatise, this reviewer believes that it can be read and understood by senior students in most colleges of pharmacy in this country and can be used advantageously by such students either as a textbook or a s a reference book.
Addendum 1951 to the British Pharmacopoeia 1948. Published under the direction of the General Medical Council. Constable and Co., Ltd., London, 1951. xviii 114 pp. 14.5 x 23 cm. Price 17s. 6d. A review of the British Pharmacopoeia 1948 was published in the April, 1949, issue of the Scientific Edition of THISJOURNAL, page 235. An addendum t o this volume, official from September 1, 1951, has recently been published. In preparing the Addendum, the Commission has followed the general principles employed in the preparation of the British Pharmacopoeia 1948, which are outlined in the introduction t o that volume. The Addendum
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August, 1951
Medicinal Chemistry. 1‘01. I. By ALFREDBURGER. Interscience Publishers, Inc., New York, 1951. xviii 577 pp. 16 x 23.5 cm. Price $10. Here is the first of two volumes of a treatise presenting an approach to medicinal chemistry for which individuals interested in that subject have recognized a need for a long time. The approach to the subject and its treatment by the author recognizes that a medicinal chemist must first of all be experienced in organic chemistry. In addition to this qualification, he needs to possess more than a superficial knowledge of biochemistry, pharmacology, microbiology, and other basic sciences contributing to the foundation materials of medicine. Professor Burger quite correctly stresses the fact that few individuals can be expert in more than one or two of these basic sciences. The medicinal chemist, to be successful, however, must be sufficiently well versed in the cognate sciences t o visualize a composite picture of the many ramifications involved in the possible development of a synthetic organic compound from a n idea into a drug. In the actual evolution of a drug from an idea t o clinical use, research teamwork among specialists in several different branches of the basic medical sciences is necessary. Obviously the better each member of a team understands the specialty of the other, the better it will function. Professor Burger’s book can be used advantageously t o accomplish a better understanding between chemists, pharmacologists, and clinicians. For teaching purposes there has been a tendency in some pharmacy schools for instructors to classify organic medicinal chemicals according to structurc. Some teachers of medicinal chemistry in pharmacy schools, on the other hand, have long maintained that a more rational approach is a classification according to pharmacological action and practical use. The proponents of this approach claim it is best, because of the lack of correlation between structure and physiological activity, and because the several activities exhibited by drugs in a single chemical classification make pharmacological discussions repetitive and a classification according t o structure somewhat illogical. T o support this contention, many examples can be cited comparable to that of the amines, which occur in analgetics, vasopressors, antihistamines, bacteriostatics, and antimalarials. Moreover, a t least a year of organic chemistry and a course in pharmacology should constitute the minimum prerequisites for the study of medicinal chemistry, and this background makes a purely chemical classification of synthetic drugs unnecessary. In this book, the author has arranged drugs according to their actual use. Drugs acting on various functions of the body are first considered. These functional or pharmacodynamic drugs will be followed in the second volume by drugs used in combating pathogenic microorganisms. A few special chapters, such as those on vitamins, parenteral fluid therapy, diagnostic agents (Volume I ) and the hormones, chemotherapy and antibiotics planned for inclusion in Volume I1 are interspersed in suitable places. The scope of Professor Burger’s book is broad, but so is the subject. Excellent judgment has been exercised in the choice of subjects discussed and in
+
417
the manner of presentation. Methods of biological testing are reviewed for each class of drugs, and the biochemical aspects of the subject are stressed throughout. The reader is effectively oriented in relation to the subject in the first two chapters, which include an introduction and a brief history of the development of medicinal chemistry. Chapter I11 is devoted to a discussion of the relationship between chemical structure and biological activity, and is followed by a chapter on physical properties and their influence on biological activity. The principles and problems involved in the biological study of drugs are briefly but clearly discussed in the next chapter, while restricted responses of cells to drugs, including tachyphylaxis, habituation, tolerance, and acquired resistance are described in Chapter VI. Following the excellent treatment of these background subjects, the author then proceeds to discuss individual classes of drugs, arranged according to their pharmacological activity. I n general, the same design is followed for each group. Theories of action and certain fundamental biological and medical considerations are outlined and then the chemical aspects of well-chosen representative members of each group, usually now being used as drugs, are stressed. The discussion of the chemistry of synthetic drugs dispels any notion one might form from the content of the first six chapters that the book IS a treatise on chemical pharmacology. The main emphasis throughout is on the chemical aspects of the subject. The text is well documented with pertinent selected references, but no effort has been made to furnish complete bibliographies. This is as it should be in a textbook suitable for use by senior and graduate students. A short subject index to the first volume is provided, and a more comprehensive index for both volumes is planned for Volume 11. The aim of the author in writing this book is t o familiarize the more advanced reader with past achievements of medicinal Chemistry, with current thoughts and hypotheses, and with the direction of needed research in the whole field. This aim will, i t is believed, be fully realized. The author and the publisher deserve a great deal of credit for making this book available at this time. Despite the fact that the author considers illeduinal Chemistry a graduate treatise, this reviewer believes that it can be read and understood by senior students in most colleges of pharmacy in this country and can be used advantageously by such students either as a textbook or a s a reference book.
Addendum 1951 to the British Pharmacopoeia 1948. Published under the direction of the General Medical Council. Constable and Co., Ltd., London, 1951. xviii 114 pp. 14.5 x 23 cm. Price 17s. 6d. A review of the British Pharmacopoeia 1948 was published in the April, 1949, issue of the Scientific Edition of THISJOURNAL, page 235. An addendum t o this volume, official from September 1, 1951, has recently been published. In preparing the Addendum, the Commission has followed the general principles employed in the preparation of the British Pharmacopoeia 1948, which are outlined in the introduction t o that volume. The Addendum
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