The Biology–Chemistry Interface (PDF)

This extraordinary compilation honors the pioneering scientific work of Professor Koji Nakanishi, whose studies of "natural products" have effaced some of the conventional boundaries between biology and chemistry. For many years the Centennial Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University, Professor Nakanishi has continued to refine many key spectroscopic microtechniques that track biological responses at the molecular level-opening up new vistas in the chemistry of vision and bioorganic applications to medicine and agriculture.




Illuminates the relationship between chemistry and biology, particularly in the related fields of bioorganic chemistry, biosynthesis, and natural products chemistry!




Written by former members of Koji Nakanishi’s own research groups, including Noboyuki Harada, Kurt Hostettmann, and Hung-Wen Liu, among others, The Biology-Chemistry Interface



* discusses a wide array of chromatographic separation methods and determination of structures on a microscale

* analyzes bioassay-directed fractionation and other means of isolating biologically active compounds from plants and other sources

* covers vital enzymes isolated from marine organisms such as algae

* examines differences between configurations of natural and synthetic secondary alcohols, among other compounds

* describes spectroscopic methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, circular dichroism, and X-ray diffraction

* addresses advances in the field of genomics, in which genetic information is derived from high-throughput sequencing and analysis (or "bioinformatics")

* evaluates traditional folk medicines and related applications of drug discovery methods

* and more!



Containing over 300 tables, drawings, photographs, and micrographs, as well as more than 1300 bibliographic references, this unique compendium emphasizes its authors’ current research and the interactive character of work at the boundary between biology and chemistry. The Biology-Chemistry Interface is an exemplary resource for organic and medicinal chemists; biochemists; pharmacists; spectroscopists; and graduate students in these disciplines.