Phytomolecules: Extraction, Isolation, Elucidation and Purification

Presently medicinal chemistry has undergone a revolutionary change. Rapid advances in the biological sciences have resulted in a much better understanding of how the body functions at the cellular and the molecular level, yet the potency of natural products to give lead molecules cannot be ignored.Medicinal chemistry covers three critical steps- firstly, a discovery step, consisting of choice of therapeutic target (receptor, enzyme, transport group, cellular or in vivo model) and the identification (or discovery) and production of new active substances interacting with the selected target. Such compounds are usually called lead compounds; they can originate from synthetic organic chemistry, from natural sources or from biotechnological processes. Secondly, an optimization step, that deals with improvement of lead structure. The optimization process takes primarily into account the increase in potency, selectivity and toxicity. Finally, a development step, whose purpose is the continuation of the improvement of the pharmacokinetic properties and the fine tuning of the pharmaceutical properties of the active substances in order to render them suitable for clinical use.