The pK(a) Distribution of Drugs: Application to Drug Discovery.

ABSTRACT: The acid-base dissociation constant (pK(a)) of a drug is a key physicochemical parameter influencing many biopharmaceutical characteristics. While this has been well established, the overall proportion of non-ionizable and ionizable compounds for drug-like substances is not well known. Even less well known is the overall distribution of acid and base pK(a) values. The current study has reviewed the literature with regard to both the proportion of ionizable substances and pK(a) distributions. Further to this a set of 582 drugs with associated pK(a) data was thoroughly examined to provide a representative set of observations. This was further enhanced by delineating the compounds into CNS and non-CNS drugs to investigate where differences exist. Interestingly, the distribution of pK(a) value

SUBMITTER: Manallack DT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2754920 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature