In order to be able to plan synthesis of potentially new drugs you will need thorough understanding of organic chemistry. I don't agree organic chemistry covers a lot of compounds that are not drug-related, different drugs belong to different classes of organic compounds, a lot of drugs that target monoamine systems are amines themselves but can have many different moieties and functional groups in their structure, but many drugs don't have amines in their structure at all or they play secondary role in binding, consider various glycosides, steroids or peptides. Basically anything can be drug-related, and anything drug-related might as well have some application not drug-related or vice versa. Certainly there are some types of reactions that are invented with medicine and pharmaceutical industry in mind to make it easier for them to access certain structures and derivatives, but that pertains to classes of compounds already known to have some potentially interesting properties but at the same time structural modifications hard to explore because of lack of proper methodology. On the other hand at some point you might as well have to access some lead structure that is not related to those already known.
Of course being an organic chemist your career options are not limited to drug synthesis, from what I observe organic chemists get involved into different speciality branches as organic synthesis at scientific level with no immediate practical utility doesn't give you much money, even when you work at the university and manage to get new grants going, you will need to have some projects that lead to something practical and are not only of purely scientific interest, that basically means finding people working in some industry that need solutions which can be found in the lab, pharmaceutical industry being just one example.
As for books you may find useful, based on what I wrote earlier they are organic chemistry textbooks that start from the basics and then expand more and more upon them. Some good introductory textbooks are Organic Chemistry by McMurry, Wade, Brown, Klein or Sorrell. They all cover the basics and differ a bit in the way they present them as well as in extra bits they include. A much more advanced textbook is Organic Chemistry by Clayden which is widely used at universities and is very nice because it has all the basics that those previous textbooks have but discussed more in-depth with more mechanistic considerations, and also have a lot of advanced stuff discussed like asymmetric synthesis, protecting groups, heteroaromatics, organometallics other than organolithiums and Grignards incl. widely used transition-metal catalyzed reactions like cross-coupling or Heck, and more, generally a very good book when you know the basics and want to expand your knowledge, many advanced topics are not fully covered but it's good they're there, so you can grasp some info on them and then look for more info elsewhere. Truly advanced organic chemistry textbooks are Advanced Organic Chemistry by March (newest edition is 7th), Advanced Organic Chemistry by Carey & Sundberg (two volumes, one on mechanisms and more from a physical standpoint and the other one on synthesis), Advanced Organic Chemistry by Bruckner, Advanced Organic Chemistry by Monson, and Organic Synthesis by Smith. These are all of general interest covering a wide range of topics important in organic chemistry. There is also Comprehensive Organic Chemistry with Barry Trost as editor comprising of 9 volumes (1st edition from 1991, but there is also an updated recent edition from 2014), each on different group of reactions. There's definitely much more on basic and advanced levels but these are textbooks I've personally found most useful and interesting. Beyond these you have plenty of textbooks on single topics that are covered in much more detail and include research from recent years, very useful are also review-type articles which sometimes have lengths of textbook chapters.
BTW, organic chemistry with direct application in drug synthesis is often planning fairly long syntheses with more than 2 or 3 steps, and there retrosynthetic analysis comes in handy, so among textbooks of interest may also be Organic Synthesis: The Disconnection Approach by Warren & Wyatt.
I suppose - the reason I'm asking is because - my initial career I abandoned and, in trying to find a new career, well - I've had difficulty finding something that actually interests me.
However, low and behold, neuropsychopharm - does interest me.
Whether that is the case because I'm being treated as such, perhaps because I've needed to research the area to understand the a-typical means that is the most effective treatment for my specific case - or just a curious co-incidence - I cannot say.
But, either way - I now find this shit interesting.
I enjoy reading articles on how drugs mediate neurotransmission, and ultimately implicate behavior, functionality; cognitive functioning is one area that specifically interests me - perhaps not entirely co-incidental that, the primary symptom I myself have, is cognitive and executive dysfunction - treated with noradrenergics.
But then, through reading, I found my interests go beyond my own treatment, to restoration of functioning in patient imparied via neuroleptics, degenerative disorders etc.
So - like you say - development of new compounds, for research purposes - or with a specific purpose in mind.
My contention of course is that, specifically in the field of neuropharm, there is SOOOO much room of growth.
How could there not be?
It's barely 50 years old in terms of psychiatric drug recognition/development.
So - drug synthesis - may be a path I could take.
That being said - I've read a couple of neuropharm books, several academic papers etc.
It's a young science so, the material on it, it's easy enough to come to terms with.
There are post graduate degrees available to me, in neuropharm - which accept students from divergent disciplines - me again.
Prob due to the aforementioned youth of the science.
But - drug synthesis?
Organic chemistry?
I did chemistry fundamentals, 1st year of engineering.
Basic chemical structure, basic lab work etc.
If I wanted to pursue a career in that - what may I be looking at?
Cause, without knowing a single thing, I'm imagining having to go right back to basics.
Starting with an undergrad degree.
Which is something that, interests aside - I am not willing to do.
That being said - as mentioned, I know NOTHING about what that career establishment may potentially entail.
So - good place to start?
Couple of entry level books - which I intend to look at, and thank you for those titles.
If there's any further light that could be shed though - I'm keen to hear.