Natural Products in Medicinal Chemistry

The inspiration provided by biologically active natural products to conceive of hybrids, congeners, analogs and unnatural variants is discussed by experts in the field in 15 highly informative chapters. Using well-documented case studies from drug development projects over the past decade, this handbook and ready reference demonstrates the current importance and future potential of natural products as drug precursors, highlighting the lessons learned and pointing to future directions in the field.The examples are carefully chosen so as to represent a wide range of chemical structures as well as therapeutic indications and include such "classical" cases as taxol and the vinca alkaloids as well the latest developments in protease inhibitors, antimicrobials, antifungals, antisense nucleosides, and epothilones.