Pharmacological ProjectslCase Studies for Teaching Molecular Structure and Reactivity J o h n Webb and Malcolm Rasmussen Australian National Uniuersity Canberra A.C.T. Australia 2600 In a general chemistry course of first-year students with strong career interests in the life sciences we have utilized the wide variety of pharmacological agents whose molecular mechanisms are known to provide projects that develop and illustrate concents of molecular stereochemistrv. functional groups, and types of reactions and reactivity. lrkormauou is availahleahour thechemirnlstructure,reactivir\~andph\% ological activity of quite extensive families of drugs, and
comparisons among these related chemicals are readily made. In practice, students worked through issued material either individually or in small groups, with extensive use of molecular models of the space-filling and framework types. Examples of the molecular systems used in the project included the antibacterial sulfonamides, dopamine, alkylating agents, particularly the mustards, and acetylcholine. These projects, coupling molecular structure and reactivity with pharmacological activity, also provide many opportunities to expand discussions into the wider question of drug usage in society. In this, the projects take on the nature of a case study, a means of instruction widely used in several fields, e.g. man&ement, w:onomici, (q$neerihg, bur less tornrnonlv in chemistry. Further drtails are available from the n w thors.
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Volume 54. Number
11, November 1977 1 677
