Bioorganic chemistry is a relatively new science that appeared at the junction of organic chemistry and biology in the latter half of the 20th century. Bioorganic chemistry studies biologically important natural and synthetic compounds, mainly biopolymers (peptides and proteins, nucleic acids, polysaccharides) and low-molecular bio-regulators such as vitamins, hormones, alkaloids, and other biologically active compounds including drugs.
Bioorganic chemistry deals with the following problems:
• development of isolation and purification methods for naturally occurring compounds;
• determination of the exact structure of a compound to be investigated;
• chemical synthesis of natural biologically active compounds and their analogues;
• study of interrelations between the chemical structure and biological effect of a compound;
• study of chemical interaction between a biologically active compound and components of a living cell at the molecular level.
The two latter items attracted special attention during the last decades. This may be briefly described as follows:
Bioorganic chemistry concerns essentially with the application of the tools of organic chemistry to interpretation of biological processes.
Bioorganic Chemistry is a part of chemical education of modern physicians. Biological functions of organic compounds are traditionally problems of Biochemistry and Physiology in higher medical schools. Special attention in the course of Bioorganic Chemistry is given to the study of the structure and chemical transformations of biologically important compounds, especially those that help understanding biological phenomena. Wherever possible the author tried to draw a parallel with the reactions that occur in living systems and organic reactions carried out in the laboratory. Undoubtedly, biological chemistry and classical organic chemistry conform to the same rules.