Pharmaceutical process research and development is an exacting, multidisciplinary effort but a somewhat neglected discipline in the chemical science curriculum. This book presents an overview of the many facets of process development and how recent advances in synthetic organic chemistry, process technology and chemical engineering have impacted on the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. In fifteen concise chapters the book covers such diverse subjects as route design and selection, the interface with medicinal chemistry, the importance of green chemistry, the design of safe chemical reactions, the crucial role of physical organic measurements in gaining a deeper understanding of chemical behaviour, the role of the analyst, new tools and innovations in reactor design, purification and separation, solid state chemistry and its role in formulation. It ends with an assessment of future trends and challenges. The book is aimed at both graduates and postgraduates interested in a career in the pharmaceutical industry. It informs them about the breadth of the work carried out in chemical research and development departments, and gives them a feel for the challenges involved in the job. The book is also of value to academics who often understand the drug discovery arena, but have far less appreciation of drug development, and are thus unable to advise their students about the relative merits of careers in chemical development versus discovery. Within the pharmaceutical industry the book will be a useful training aid to scientists at an early stage of their careers.

Foreword; Preface; Introduction; Process Research and Development in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Origins, Evolution and Progress; Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: Structure and Impact on Synthesis; Rapid Early Development of Potential Drug Candidates; Route Design and Selection The Importance of Green Chemistry in Process Research and Development; Kinetic Approaches for Faster and Efficient Process Development; The Design of Safe Chemical Reactions - It's No Accident; Physicochemical Data Requirements for the Design of Fine Chemical Processes - Acquisition and Application; Liquid-Liquid Extraction for Process Development in the Pharmaceutical Industry; Development Enabling Technologies; The Analytical Interface and the Impact on Pharmaceutical Process Development; Materials Science - Solid Form Design and Crystallisation Process Development; Technology Transfer of API; Future Trends and Challenges;