Better understanding chemistry.

[Diloadid]

This might be a vague question, but I am interested in better understanding the how's and why's of chemistry. A-la understanding how chemical compounds do what they do by looking at their molecular structure, ring placement, and other factors.

This probably sounds really lame but I really only have a general understanding of chemistry, it was not my major in college.

I find it fascinating that some BL users can merely look at a molecule and make the assumption that 'this compound looks to be another dopamine releasing piece of garbage'.

There are tons of articles and journals that I have read through and found myself asking 'where the hell is the 2,5 or 3,4 ring placement' or more-so 'are 3,4 ring placements always placed in the same position?'.

Wikipedia and the Internet in general have taught me a bit, but if anyone knows of solid physical or data-based source material that could give me more insight? it would be appreciated.

This all actually derives from needing a more positive hobby to have whilst under the influence of stimulants. I love reading when and learning new things when I am midst a nice stimulant high. I retain information at a level I could not if just reading for general enthusiasm. Thanks, cheers, yep.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

I don't think this really fits in Basic Drug Discussion. It's not a basic specific drug question. But I'm not sure where to put it either. We have Education & Careers, or Science & Technology. Do you think I could move it to one of those forums? (People in Other Drugs or Advanced Drug Discussion would probably have some good suggestions too, but I don't think this thread really fits in either of those forums).

As to your question, chemistry is an enormous topic. It depends on specifically what you are interested in and how in-depth you want to go. If you aren't going to take a class, it's more difficult to teach yourself, but there are tons of books available. You'd probably need a decent understanding of chemistry first so depending on how much you already know and what you want to learn you might want:
- a basic/general chemistry book
- an introductory biochemistry book
- an introductory organic chemistry book
- an introductory medicinal chemistry book
(or all of the above)

Here is a book you can read/save/print for free online:

An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry by Graham L. Patrick [1995].
Description: "The book builds on the history of drug development, but does not assume much background knowledge. The focus is on building upon the understandings of the molecular function of drugs, and from there, taking a broad overview of the topical issues and most frequently used techniques".

*You will notice the text at the bottom of the page with the links to each part of the book is in Russian - they just say "Chapters 1-9 (format: PDF)" "Chapters 10-11 (format PDF)" "Chapters 12-13 (format PDF)" and "Whole Book (format PDF)".

This is an earlier edition - you can buy more recent editions online - not sure how much it matters that it's from 1995, it won't include recent research but it should still be pretty good. (I haven't actually read much of it yet and can't vouch for the claim that it doesn't require much background knowledge though).

 

[Diloadid]

Thanks so much for the reply. I have a very limited knowledge of chemistry. I think I need a general re-introduction to the basics, but I'm mainly interested in how specific chemicals are made up, what the numbers like 3,4 mean other than placement, how chemicals are broken down and adversely how you can tell if a chemical is going to be a 'serotonin' or a 'dopamine' dump just by looking at the molecular structure? This probably seems really dumb, but I am not the brightest of bulbs.

I have a few books that I think could be better understood if I had more of perspective on even the most basic of basics. I mean i know my periodic table, but as far as that goes I really don't understand the how's and why's.

And I really didn't know where to put this, because the concept is basic but the ideas could be considered advanced. Should have just posted in homeless.

Thanks for the link tho, I am going to check it out and decipher what I can.

 

[NonEuthymicBoy]

I suggest you look into aminoacids. it's easy and *most* drugs are all derived from them. Bio-chemistry is great.

 

[Renz Envy]

Some of us know things based on memorization, others with very good backgrounds in chemistry are able to develop theories and make hypotheses.

I believe you're really looking at either a simple road of knowing popular psychoactive substances or a very steep learning curve of learning basic chemistry into organic chemistry and biochemistry.

 

[Diloadid]

Some of us know things based on memorization, others with very good backgrounds in chemistry are able to develop theories and make hypotheses.

I believe you're really looking at either a simple road of knowing popular psychoactive substances or a very steep learning curve of learning basic chemistry into organic chemistry and biochemistry.

I think I want to tackle the steep learning curve.

And to the poster above I am going to look into amino acids. I already know a little about amino acids.

 

[Hiltoniano]

Yea man people usually have to go get a formal education at a uni or college, and take/study many many hours of chem courses to understand how molecular structure, ring placement ( btw the 3,4 stuff refers to the carbon on the ring) and so honestly I don't see what your asking being possible, in the way you are imagining. There is soooo much knowledge out there it's not like you just read a few papers, books, and then become some expert in biochem, like the mod sekio is on here. It takes a shitload more work than I think you are realizing.