30 years after its discovery as an antitumor agent, cisplatin represents today one of the most successful drugs in chemotherapy. This book is intended to reminisce this event, to take inventory, and to point out new lines of development in this field. Divided in 6 sections and 22 chapters, the book provides an up-to-date account on topics such as - the chemistry and biochemistry of cisplatin, - the clinical status of Pt anticancer drugs, - the impact of cisplatin on inorganic and coordination chemistry, - new developments in drug design, testing and delivery. It also includes a chapter describing the historical development of the discovery of cisplatin. The ultimate question - How does cisplatin kill a cell? - is yet to be answered, but there are now new links suggesting how Pt binding to DNA may trigger a cascade of cellular reactions that eventually result in apoptosis. p53 and a series of damage recognition proteins of the HMG-domain family appear to be involved. The book addresses the problem of mutagenicity of Pt drugs and raises the question of the possible relevance of the minor DNA adducts, e.g. of interstrand cross-links, and the possible use of trans-(NH3)2Pt(II)-modified oligonucleotides in antisense and antigene strategies. Our present understanding of reactions of cisplatin with DNA is based upon numerous model studies (from isolated model nucleobases to short DNA fragments) and application of a large body of spectroscopic and other physico-chemical techniques. Thanks to these efforts there is presently no other metal ion whose reactions with nucleic acids are better understood than Pt. In a series of chapters, basic studies on the interactions of Pt electrophiles with nucleobases, oligonucleotides, DNA, amino acids, peptides and proteins are reported, which use, among others, sophisticated NMR techniques or X-ray crystallography, to get remarkable understanding of details on such reactions. Reactivity of cisplatin, once bound to DNA and formerly believed to be inert enough to stay, is an emerging phenomenon. It has (not yet) widely been studied but is potentially extremely important. Medicinal bioinorganic chemistry - the role of metal compounds in medicine - has received an enormous boost from cisplatin, and so has bioinorganic chemistry as a whole. There is hardly a better example than cisplatin to demonstrate what bioinorganic chemistry is all about: The marriage between classic inorganic (coordination) chemistry and the other life sciences - medicine, pharmacy, biology, biochemistry. Cisplatin has left its mark also on areas that are generally considered largely inorganic. The subject of mixed-valance Pt compounds is an example: From the sleeping beauty it made its way to the headlines of scientific journals, thanks to a class of novel Pt antitumor agents, the so-called "platinum pyrimidine blues". In the aftermath diplatinum (III) compounds were recognized and studies in large numbers, and now an organometalic chemistry of these diplatinum (III) species is beginning to emerge. The final section of the book is concerned with new developments such as novel di- and trinuclear Pt(II) drugs with DNA binding properties different from those of cisplatin, with orally active Pt(IV) drugs which are presently in clinical studies, and with attempts to modify combinatorial chemistry in such a way that it may become applicable to fast screening of Pt antitumor drugs. The potential of including computational methods in solving questions of Pt-DNA interactions is critically dealt with in the concluding chapter.

"This book should become an indispensable asset on the bookshelves of pharmaceutical laboratories in academia and in industry, as well as of laboratories devoted to plant protection. I am convinced that studying this book will be an eye-opener for many scientists in the field of life sciences. Furthermore, for teachers in this area it will not only be a useful compilation of the various languages and definitions of organic stereochemistry, but also a welcome source of examples for demonstrating to their students the intricate and intriguing role stereochemistry plays in the chemistry of life." - Prof. Dr. Dieter Seebach, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, ETH Zurich, Switzerland This textbook presents the molecular scale of matter in the broad diversity and richness of its three dimensions, giving due attention when relevant to the temporal dimension in which molecules exist, act, and react. The focus is on two significant fields of three-dimensional chemistry: a presentation of the guiding principles in organic stereochemistry, followed by a focus on the biochemical and medicinal relevance of this discipline. The treatment of Guiding Principles gives priority to didactic clarity and nomenclature issues, as detailed and illustrated in Parts 1 to 4: 'Symmetry Elements and Operations, Classification of Stereoisomers' 'Stereoisomerism Resulting from One or Several Stereogenic Centers' 'Other Stereogenic Elements: Axes of Chirality, Planes of Chirality, Helicity, and (E,Z)-Diastereoisomerism' 'Isomerisms about Single Bonds and in Cyclic Systems' This is followed by Parts 5 to 8 which focus on the biomedicinal relevance of stereochemistry, with special reference to the biochemistry and pharmacology of medicinal compounds. Here, examples and applications are discussed and illustrated based on their relevance to a given specific stereochemical aspect: 'Chirality in Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology' 'The Conformational Factor in Molecular Pharmacology' 'The Concept of Substrate Stereoselectivity in Biochemistry and Xenobiotic Metabolism' 'Prostereoisomerism and the Concept of Product Stereoselectivity in Xenobiotic Metabolism' Finally, the book contains a gift for broad-minded readers with an interest in the historical roots of stereochemistry: 'Molecular Chirality in Chemistry and Biology: Historical Milestones' Key features: * Consists entirely of beautifully produced colored figures * Includes marginal notes, giving clear-cut short definitions of terms used in the corresponding caption * Provides an alphabetic glossary of terms * Offers an extensive index

World production of citrus fruits is still growing. At present, about 30 percent of that yield is devoted to industrial production, mostly on those essential oils and juices used in foods, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Covering research reported in the literature over the past ten years, this book presents the most current research available

In this most up-to-date handbook each chapter contains a general introduction, followed by the principles of the immobilization and, finally, applications. In this way, it covers the most important approaches currently employed for the heterogenization of chiral catalysts, including data tables, applications, reaction types and literature citations. For chemists in both academia and industry as well as those working in the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industry.

This book is the long awaited completely revised and extended edition of Gunther Ohloff's standard work "Scent and Fragrances: The Fascination of Odors and Their Chemical Perspectives". The prominent chemists Gunther Ohloff, Wilhelm Pickenhagen, and Philip Kraft convey the scientist, the perfumer, as well as the interested layman with a vivid and up-to-date picture of the state of the art of the chemistry of odorants and the research in odor perception. The book details on the molecular basis of olfaction, olfactory characterization of perfumery materials, structure-odor relationships, the chemical synthesis of odorants, and the chemistry of essential oils and odorants from the animal kingdom, backed up by ca. 400 perfumery examples and historical aspects. It will serve as a thorough introductory text for all those interested in the molecular world of odors. This book is written for everyone who wants to know more about the molecular basis of odor, and the relationships between chemical structures and olfactory properties. The great structural diversity of odorants, their synthesis, natural occurrence and their structure?odor correlation demonstrate what a fascinating science Fragrance Chemistry indeed is.