ABSTRACT
It is no exaggeration to state that the advances in understanding of molecular structure and organic chemistry in the twentieth century brought about a renaissance in medicine. For the rst time, chemists were able to isolate biologically active compounds from their sources and, crucially, identify their molecular structure. Thus, it became possible to correlate the structure of compounds with their therapeutic effect, the concept that has underpinned the eld of medicinal chemistry for the last 150 years.
