I have always deeply believed that reading is the cornerstone of gaining knowledge. Through reading, we gain the wisdom and knowledge of others. I recently purchased a book titled “Scaffold hopping in medicinal chemistry” edited by Nathan Brown and published by Wiley VCH. It will be interesting to see my the change of my understanding of scaffold hopping “before and after” I read this book. Thus, I will give a brief rundown of my thoughts on scaffold hopping here.
I am a medicinal chemist and thus intrinsically have some understanding of the concept of scaffold hopping from my previous projects. It provides the chemical diversity that is needed for finding the ideal combination of atomic arrangements for a biological role. Scaffold hopping can proceed through “bioisosteres,” through more complicated computational methods, and through traditional SAR. A “scaffold” is generally a ring or core functional group arrangement of a small organic molecule that provides the large majority of its biological action. Thus, a “pharmacophore” is a similar term. To me, I remain to be educated on the difference between the terms. We’ll see what the authors have to say. Scaffold hopping is truly one of the fundamental processes within medicinal chemistry. However, how enlightening and “relevant” this book is remains to be seen.
