• Question: Are some drugs more complicated than others?

    Asked by ExplosiveBiskit to David, Sarah on 21 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: David Foley

      David Foley answered on 21 Nov 2014:

      Certainly. Some are really small and simple, like gabapentin and aspirin. Others are huge and complex like cyclosporin A and ledipasvir.

      Although there are expecptions to every rule (see above), medicinal chemists usually try to make molecules that sit within a “Rule of 5” range:

      Molecular weight < 500 g/mol, LogP (a measure of how water-loving the compound is) < 5, number of hydrogen bond doners < 5, number of hydrogen bond acceptors < 10. Most drugs that have been designed by chemists and not inspired by natural products will sit in this range.

    • Photo: Sarah Ashwood

      Sarah Ashwood answered on 21 Nov 2014:

      Yes! Drugs range from tiny simple molecules to very large conplex structures. It all depends on what receptor you are wanting to target and what is needed in the molecule to make that happen.

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