This book represents an effort to express a long overdue need of compiling information which has been accumulated over the course of more than 30 years of our work in the area of the synthesis of medicinal drugs. Our effort fills obvious gaps that exist in the literature of drug synthesis. The synthesis of various groups of drugs are presented in an order similar to that traditionally presented in a pharmacology curriculum. This was done with a very specific goal in mind to harmonize the chemical aspects with the pharmacology curriculum in a manner useful to chemists. Practically every chapter begins with an accepted brief definition and description of a particular group of drugs, proposes their classification, and briefly explains the present model of their action. This is followed by a detailed description of methods for their synthesis. Of the thousands of drugs existing on the pharmaceutical market, we mainly discuss generic drugs that are included in the WHOs "Essential List of Drugs." For practically all of the 700+ drugs described in the book, references (around 2350) to the methods of their synthesis are given along with the most widespread synonyms. This book will provide the kind of information that will be of interest to those who work, or plan to begin work in the captivating areas of biologically active compounds and the synthesis of medicinal drugs. * Provides a brief description of methods of synthesis, activity and implementation of all drug types * Includes synonyms * Includes over 2300 references
