Back to the full dot-point answer
VICChemistryQuick questions
Unit 4: How are carbon-based compounds designed for purpose?
Quick questions on Medicinal chemistry and sustainable chemistry: VCE Chemistry Unit 4
10short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is sustainable (green) chemistry?Show answer
The 12 principles of green chemistry (Anastas and Warner, 1998) frame chemistry's sustainability agenda. Memorise the headline list:
What is drug action?Show answer
Medicines are chemicals that modify biochemical processes (e.g. enzyme inhibition, receptor binding). Drugs typically interact with biological targets (enzymes, receptors, ion channels) using intermolecular forces: hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions, dispersion forces, dipole-dipole, hydrophobic interactions.
What is functional groups and drug structure?Show answer
Common functional groups in pharmaceutical molecules:
What are structure-activity relationships?Show answer
Small structural changes can alter pharmacological properties significantly. Examples:
What is side effects and selectivity?Show answer
Non-selective binding (drug interacting with unintended biological targets) causes side effects. SAR research aims to improve selectivity to reduce off-target effects.
What are analytical techniques applied to medicines?Show answer
Same Unit 4 analytical methods you study elsewhere, applied to pharmaceuticals:
What are renewable feedstocks?Show answer
Biomass-derived chemicals (lignin, cellulose, plant oils, bioethanol, lactic acid) increasingly replace petrochemicals for some industrial syntheses. Examples: bioethanol-derived ethylene; PLA (polylactic acid) plastics from corn-derived lactic acid; bio-based surfactants.
What is q1?Show answer
Identify two functional groups common in pharmaceutical molecules and explain how each influences a drug's behaviour. [4 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Calculate the atom economy of esterification between ethanoic acid (CH3COOH, MW 60.05) and ethanol (C2H5OH, MW 46.07) to form ethyl ethanoate (CH3COOC2H5, MW 88.11) and water. [3 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Evaluate a chemical manufacturing process of your choice against three principles of green chemistry. [8 marks]