Course code:
241B2		 Course name:
Bioorganic Chemistry

Academic year:

2025/2026.

Attendance requirements:

202B2 + 401B2

ECTS:

8

Study level:

basic academic studies

Study program:

Biochemistry: 4. year, summer semester, elective (E17B2) course

Teacher:

®ivota J. Selakoviæ, Ph.D.
assistant professor, Faculty of Chemistry, Studentski trg 12-16, Beograd

Assistant:

Andrea M. Nikoliæ, Ph.D.
assistant professor, Faculty of Chemistry, Studentski trg 12-16, Beograd

Hours of instruction:

Weekly: four hours of lectures + two hours of labwork (4+0+2)

Goals:

Within this course students are introduced to the application of the principles and methods of organic chemistry necessary for understanding biochemical processes, with a special emphasis on the mechanisms of enzymatic reactions. Furthermore, they are introduced to the fundamentals of medicinal chemistry, biomimetic chemistry and supramolecular chemistry.

Outcome:

Students will master the fundamentals of bioorganic and medicinal chemistry.

Teaching methods:

Lectures, experimental exercises, term papers.

Extracurricular activities:

—

Coursebooks:

Main coursebooks:

  1. Hermann Dugas: Bioorganic Chemistry, 3rd ed., Springer, 1996.
  2. Dušan Sladić: Bioorganska hemija - Mehanizmi enzimskih reakcija, for internal use only

Supplementary coursebooks:

  1. Graham L. Patrick: An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry, Oxford University Press, 2001.
  2. Richard B. Silverman: The Organic Chemistry of Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions, Academic Press, 2000.

Additional material:

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  Course activities and grading method

Lectures:

0 points (4 hours a week)

Syllabus:

  1. Structure-biological activity relationship, the sense of smell and the sense of taste, cholinergic agents.
  2. The methods of the characterization of receptors, the chemistry of opioid analgesics.
  3. DNA as a receptor, antimetabolites, antitumor agents. The fundamentals of the study of quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR).
  4. Computational methods in medicinal chemistry. Combinatorial synthesis.
  5. Crown ethers as models of receptors and transporters.
  6. Introduction to enzyme catalysis.
  7. Experimental methods used for the study of the mechanisms of enzymatic reactions.
  8. Hydrolytic enzymes (lysozyme, chymotrypsin).
  9. The hydrolysis of phosphate esters, phosphatases, energy-rich compounds, kinases.
  10. The role of metal ions in hydrolytic reactions, carboxypeptidase A.
  11. Enzymes which catalyze carbon-carbon bond formation. Aldolases. Biosynthesis of terpenoids and steroids. Biomimetic polyene cyclizations.
  12. Coenzymes. Thiamine. Biotin.
  13. Pyridoxal phosphate. Oxidoreductases. NAD. The application of dehydrogenase in organic synthesis.
  14. FAD. Monooxygenases. Cytochrome P-450.
  15. Molecular shifts. Vitamin B12. Enzyme models (crown ethers, cyclodextrins, micelles, polymers).

Labwork:

10 points (2 hours a week)

Syllabus:

  • The synthesis of biologically active compounds.
  • Determination of the biological activity of the synthesized compounds.
  • The synthesis of enzyme substrates and enzyme inhibitors.
  • Determination of kinetic parameters of enzymatic reactions without the presence of inhibitors and with the presence of inhibitors.

Semester papers:

10 points

Colloquia:

20 points

Oral exam:

60 points