Drug design: optimizing target interactions
Graham L. Patrick · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2023
This chapter discusses interactions that involve dipole moments or induced dipole moments. These play a role in binding a lead compound to a binding site. The chapter demonstrates how reactive functional groups, such as alkyl halides, may lead to irreversible covalent bonds being formed between a lead compound and its target. It also examines the relevance of a functional group to binding, which can be determined by preparing analogues where the functional group is modified or removed. The chapter outlines functional groups, such as alcohols, amines, esters, amides, carboxylic acids, phenols, and ketones, and looks at how these can interact with binding sites by means of hydrogen bonding. It reviews alkyl substituents and carbon skeleton of the lead compound which can interact with hydrophobic regions of binding sites by means of van der Waals interactions.