UNAM Phytochemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department
This Department incorporates a number of related disciplines orientated to the isolation, identification, characterisation, manipulation and application of compounds for medicinal use. It forms the foundation of medicinal discovery and paves the way for drug candidates to be developed into medicines for the market; from the field to the bedside. Pharmacognosy (incorporating phytochemistry – the study of the chemistry of plants) is the study of natural products and their application and use as medicines.
Pharmaceutical chemistry is the interface between the chemical profiling of natural and synthetic drug candidates and the fields of pharmacology and pharmaceutics. The study of pharmaceutical chemistry is of upmost importance in pharmacy education. It equips pharmacists with in-depth knowledge not just of the development but also of the use of medicines in patients.