JOHN SAUNDERS

This series of short texts provides accessible accounts of a range of essential topics in chemistry and chemical engineering. Written with the needs of the student in mind, the " Oxford Chemistry Primers " offer just the right level of detail for undergraduate study, and will be invaluable as a source of material commonly presented in lecture courses yet-not adequately covered in existing texts. All the basic principles and facts in a particular area are presented in a clear and straightforward style, to produce concise yet comprehensive accounts of topics covered in both core and specialist courses. Many of today's best selling drugs are first made in the chemical laboratory on a very small scale many years before they enter the market place. During the intervening period, organic chemists investigate alternative methods both to improve the overall yield of the process and to ensure that it operates safely on a manufacturing scale. "Top Drugs : Top Synthetic Routes" reviews the syntheses of the best selling drugs used in tackling many of the major categories of human disease cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, central nervous system, inflammatory and infectious diseases-comparing the original research method used in the discovery programme with more recent approaches aimed Ether at improving the development route or at validating newer methodologies or reagents in the context of drug synthesis. This Primer clearly explains how an understanding of modern organic chemistry is pivotal to the overall drug discovery process and will allow students to see how the organic chemistry taught in undergraduate courses is applied by medicinal chemists in industry.