<p>  </p> <p>Seven-membered ring structures are one of the most important structural motifs found widely in natural products and bioactive molecules. Although several [5+2]-cycloaddition reactions have been developed to construct these seven membered cores, asymmetric cycloaddition reactions are less explored. Described in Chapter-1 is a base mediated intramolecular diastereoselective [5+2]-cycloaddition reaction that afforded highly functionalized seven membered rings in good yields and excellent diastereoselectivities. The high diastereoselectivity is controlled by the alkyl stereocenter and the chain length of the alkene tether. The existing chirality of the substrate can direct the stereochemical outcome of the [5+2]-cycloaddition reaction. Furthermore, this methodology has been applied to synthesize various potent HIV-1 protease inhibitors. </p> <p>COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected life around the globe and costed us 6 million lives. Therefore, there is an urgent need for rational design of new drug candidates to specifically target different SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Recently, Pfizer developed an FDA-approved antiviral therapeutic agent, Paxlovid, targeting SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro. Chapter-2 discusses a concise synthetic route to synthesize active component of Paxlovid, Nirmatrelvir, in 6-steps without any epimerization. We have also developed a series of potent covalent inhibitors targeting SARS-CoV-2 3CLprotease and compared the antiviral activities of these inhibitors with that of Nirmatrelvir. </p> <p>In the final chapter, a concise partial synthesis of the segment A of (-)-Rafonin is discussed. (-)-Rasfonin is an antitumor agent that induces apoptosis in <em>ras</em>-dependent cells. We have proposed an asymmetric chiron approach to install the α-pyranone ring of rasfonin. Our goal is to perform SAR studies on this natural product by designing various analogues. </p>

<p>Continuous flow synthesis provides an efficient, rapidly scalable, safer, and improved synthetic route over traditional batch synthesis owing to enhanced heat and mass transfer. High throughput experimentation (HTE) is a powerful tool to discover novel reaction conditions and optimize challenging transformations in significantly small amount of time and by exploring multiple arrays of reactions. The utilization of desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) couple to HTE enables the exploration of 384 unique reaction conditions in just ~7 minutes. Chapter 1 highlights the different organic transformations and the target-based synthesis that have been studied using the HTE in the literature. Validation of the HTE-DESI-MS was investigated by performing a large set of aldol reactions on triacetic acid lactone (TAL), a compound well studied for use as a bio-based platform molecule which can be transformed to a range of valuable agrochemicals, commodity chemicals and intermediates for pharmaceutical industry. Two different active pharmaceutical ingredients namely, HSN-608 and Lorazepam have been synthesized using continuous manufacturing. HTE-DESI MS tools were utilized for rapid reaction screening for Sonogashira couplings for the development of telescoped continuous flow synthesis of an alkynyl naphthyridine anti-cancer agent, HSN-608. It is a fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT-3) inhibitor, a drug-lead compound for potential treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. Furthermore, a 5-step continuous flow synthesis involving N-acylation, cyclization, N-oxidation, polonovski-type rearrangement, and hydrolysis has been developed for Lorazepam, an essential generic active pharmaceutical ingredient under shortage. Different synthetic routes scouting, and impurity profiling was done to propose the novel route that was further developed under continuous flow conditions with optimization of each step.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Post-translational modification (PTM) is an important biological process by which cells regulate their signaling pathways. De-regulation of these signaling pathways often leads to many diseases. Protein AMPylation is a recently discovered PTM that caught a great amount of attention for its involvement in neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration. However, the mechanisms by which protein AMPylation modulates these biological processes remain mostly unknown. FIC domain protein adenylyltransferase (FICD)<b> </b>is one of the only two known AMPylators in eukaryotes, and its physiological role remains largely unexplored. By using a chemical approach, we identified two direct substrates of FICD: Peroxiredoxin 1 (PRX1) and Peroxiredoxin 2 (PRX2). These are antioxidant enzymes responsible for protecting cells from oxidative stress, which has been implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, we found that FICD-mediated AMPylation increased PRX1 and PRX2 enzymatic activity <i>in vitro</i> and their protein levels in cells. These findings established a link between FICD-mediated AMPylation and oxidative stress, suggesting a potential neuroprotective role of FICD in neurodegenerative diseases.</p><p dir="ltr">Protein phosphorylation is another PTM that has been under extensive study due to its widespread role in cell signaling in many biological processes such as growth, division, metabolism, membrane transport, etc... Deregulation of protein kinases, which catalyze phosphorylation reaction, is often implicated in many diseases, including cancer. To elucidate disease mechanisms and explore alternative therapeutic targets, identifying direct protein substrates of a given disease-relevant kinase is crucial but remains a major challenge. Conventional methods to study phosphorylation involved the use of radiolabeled ATP, which poses health hazards and lacks reliability due to rapid decay of radioactive isotope. In this research, we developed an alternative method with a series of novel γ-modified ATP analog probes bearing a phospho-alkyne reporter handle, and their effectiveness and efficiency for<i> </i><i>in vitro</i> phosphorylation of recombinant proteins and proteomic substrate labeling in cell lysate were examined.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, and there is a continued need for effective treatments to combat the disease. A key challenge in cancer therapy persists in the form of therapeutic resistance. While kinase inhibitors (KIs) have shown promise in treating cancer patients with dysregulated protein kinases, treatment failures are common, highlighting the urgent need to address this issue. Despite the approval of 80 protein kinase inhibitors by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and numerous others in clinical trials, the chemical space explored for protein kinase inhibitors remains limited. Most FDA-approved kinase inhibitors share common core moieties, such as indazole, quinoline, pyrazole, and pyrimidine, indicating a lack of diversification in drug development in this area.</p><p dir="ltr">Efforts to expand the chemical space have led to the identification of a novel 3<i>H</i>-pyrazolo-[4,3-<i>f</i>]quinoline core by the Sintim group. This scaffold can be efficiently synthesized through the Doebner–Povarov multicomponent reaction using readily available ketones, heteroaromatic aldehydes, and 5-aminoindazole. This multicomponent chemistry affords small molecules which inhibit disease-associated protein kinases with sub-nanomolar IC₅₀ values. Additionally, the scaffold presents a unique opportunity to tune for selectivity via judicious substitution patterns, allowing us to target numerous disease-driving kinases, such as FLT3, haspin, and CLK, with the use of simple multi-component chemistry.</p><p dir="ltr">From this work emerged lead amide-containing compound HSK205, which potently inhibits FLT3 and haspin and shows impressive potencies against FLT3-driven acute myeloid leukemia cell lines, with GI₅₀ values between 2 and 20 nM. Western blot analyses indicate that HSK205 inhibits the phosphorylation of FLT3 and histone H3 (substrate of haspin) in Molm-14 AML cells. Further exploration led to the discovery of lead CLK inhibitors, such as HSK1132 and HSK3110, which inhibit the growth of multiple myeloma cell lines <i>in vitro</i> with GI₅₀ values as low as 17 nM. Additionally, these compounds are orally bioavailable and reduce the growth of multiple myeloma RPMI-8226 xenograft model in mice by 69%.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Reported herein is a brief summary regarding the previous syntheses of borane-amines, newly developed protocols to synthesize borane-amines, and the material and synthetic applications utilizing borane-amines. Methods to generate borane-amines typically relied on a metathesis-dehydrogenation reaction between ammonium salts and metal borohydrides in organic solvent, typically hazardous tetrahydrofuran (THF). However, due to the poor solubility of inorganic salts in organic solvent, stirring of the reaction mixture becomes difficult and, in turn, scalability is made challenging. We report two new methods to generate borane-amines that both rely on the hydroboration of sodium borohydride and a carbonyl activator, followed by the S_N2-type reaction with the amine to form the requisite borane-amine. The activator for our procedures are either 1) gaseous carbon dioxide or 2) water/ethyl acetate system. The CO₂ mediated protocol was applied to a variety of 1°-, 2°-, 3°-, and heteroaromatic amines as well as phosphines to form the corresponding borane adducts (73-99%). Water was also found to be a green, compatible activator. Interestingly, we had swapped environmentally and health hazardous THF with ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and found the reaction had still proceeded with competitive conversion of amines to the borane-amines (72-97%). The robustness of this reaction was demonstrated with a 1.1 mol scale synthesis of borane pyridine with 87% yield. With increased accessibility of borane-amines established, we sought to investigate their potential applications, including testing their hypergolic properties. Additionally, we utilized borane-ammonia for a sequential reduction/Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzyl carbonyls. Traditionally an alkyl halide, the scope of the electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction has widened to include alcohols and carbonyls as potential Friedel-Crafts reactants. Few reports exist for the arylation of aldehydes and ketones, while no precedence exists for the arylation of carboxylic acids and esters. Our group previously reported that TiCl₄ is capable of eliminating oxygen from benzyl alcohols, forming a carbocation intermediate. Theoretically, the carbocation formed from TiCl₄ and benzyl alcohols would be vulnerable from attacks from other nucleophiles, including pi bonds from arenes. This was indeed proven to be the case when benzyl alcohol was reacted in 1 equiv. TiCl₄with benzene as the solvent and diphenylmethane was obtained as the sole product. By including borane-ammonia as a hydride source, various aryl carbonyls and aryl carbinols were also reduced to the corresponding alcohol <i>in situ</i>, enabling these substrates to participate in Friedel-Crafts alkylation.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Aromatic phosphonates and phosphine oxides are highly desirable synthetic targets used in pharmaceuticals, natural products, agrichemicals, catalysis, and materials science. While a variety of aromatic precursors have been used to access these motifs, aryl halides remain one of the most desirable coupling partners owing to their low cost, commercial availability, and regioselective reactivity. Traditional phosphonation often requires the use of harsh reductants in the presence of liquid ammonia, which are caustic and pose incredible environmental concerns. Milder, transition metal-catalyzed approaches have been developed, but can be limited by air sensitivity, cost, low reaction selectivity, and low functional group compatibility. Photoredox catalysis has been significantly advanced in the past decade in the pursuit of greener, more sustainable avenues to facilitate desirable reaction transformations under mild conditions. These methods most commonly use a dual catalytic strategy in which a metal is paired with an organocatalyst. While these approaches enable facile phosphonation of a variety of aromatic precursors, the metals and organocatalysts used are often expensive and toxic. Indeed, there remains unexplored chemical space for transition metal-free photoredox-catalyzed aryl C-P bond formations. Herein, we present a series of transition metal-free, photoredox-catalyzed approaches to the phosphonation of aryl halides. The approaches and mechanistic works will be discussed in the following order: </p><p dir="ltr">First, the discovery that 10<i>H</i>-phenothiazine (PTZ) enables the transition metal-free phosphonation of aryl halides using trialkyl phosphites will be presented. PTZ serves as a photocatalyst capable of reducing the aryl halide to access aryl radicals, which readily couple with phosphite esters. This transformation exhibits broad functional group tolerance in good to excellent yields. Then, photoredox catalysis by PTZ enables the formation of unsymmetrical aromatic phosphine oxides using triphenylphosphine (PPh₃) and aryl halides. This is the first work in which PPh₃ has been used as the starting material, and the reaction proceeds via the alkaline hydrolysis of quaternary phosphonium salts. The final work exhibits novel photocatalytic activity of <i>N</i>-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) to activate aryl halides, form aryl radicals, and enable phosphonation. This method displays broad functional group tolerance under mild conditions and highlights its untapped synthetic utility as a photocatalyst.</p>

O estudo envolvendo a interação entre picratos de terras raras (III) hidratados e aminoácidos é reportado no presente trabalho. Este estudo consiste na preparação dos compostos de adição entre esses sais e os aminoácidos Larginina (Arg), L-lisina (Lys) e L-Ieucina (Leu), bem como a caracterização dos mesmos utilizando várias técnicas físico-químicas e analíticas. Os compostos foram preparados na relação molar 1:2 entre os respectivos sais hidratados e os ligantes (Arg, Lys e Leu) utilizando rotas de sínteses específicas para cada um desses aminoácidos. Os compostos obtidos são sólidos pouco cristalinos e higroscópicos. Os compostos com Arg e Lys são aparentemente, parcialmente solúveis em água e insolúveis em etanol, metanol, acetonitrila e nitrometano. Os compostos com Leu são aparentemente, solúveis em água, acetona, etanol, metanol, nitrometano, parcialmente solúveis em acetonitrila e comportam-se como não-eletrólitos em soluções de acetona e nitrometano. As fórmulas gerais dos compostos foram propostas tomando-se como base os teores de terras raras obtidos por análise complexométrica com EDTA e termogravimetria, dos teores de água também obtidos por termogravimetria, além dos teores de C, N e H obtidos por análise elementar. Através da combinação desses resultados foi possível sugerir as seguintes fórmulas gerais: TR(pic)32AA.2H2O e TR(pic)32Leu.5H2O (TR = La - Lu e Y, pic = picrato, AA = Arg e Lys). Em todos os compostos, os aminoácidos estão coordenados aos íons terras raras através do átomo de nitrogênio do grupo amino do carbono &#945; e os picratos, pelos menos em parte, estão coordenados de forma bidentada, através do átomo de oxigênio do grupo fenólico e um átomo de oxigênio de um dos grupos orto-nitro, conforme evidenciado por espectros de absorção no infravermelho. Todos os compostos de lisina são isomorfos entre si. Os compostos TR(pic)3.2Arg.2H2O (TR = La - Nd e Gd - Lu) formam uma série isomorfa, porém os compostos TR(pic)32Arg.2H2O (TR = Sm, Eu e Y) não pertencem a série citada e também não são isomorfos entre si. Os compostos de leucina formam três séries isomorfas. A primeira série corresponde aos compostos dos elementos La - Nd, a segunda Tb e Gd e a terceira Ho - Lu e Y. Os compostos de Sm, Eu e Dy não pertencem as séries citadas e também não são isomorfos entre si. Através dos parâmetros obtidos dos espectros de absorção na região do visível dos compostos de neodímio, foi verificado que as ligações metais-ligantes são de baixo caráter covalente. Os compostos de európio apresentam luminescência à temperatura ambiente e 77 K, já os compostos com térbio não mostram luminescência devido a seu estado emissor estar acima do estado tripleto do ligante, sendo este determinado utilizando o espectro de fosforescência do picrato, no complexo de gadolínio. As características espectrais e o comportamento biexponencial dos compostos de európio mostram que existe a presença de mais de um ambiente químico ao redor do íon Eu3+, ou seja, os compostos podem formar estruturas poliméricas. A estabilidade e o comportamento térmico dos compostos foram estudados por meio das técnicas de termogravimetrialtermogravimetria derivada (TG/DTG) e calorimetria exploratória diferencial (DSC). A estabilidade térmica dos compostos dentro de cada série é semelhante e comparando os compostos com os três aminoácidos, verifica-se que os compostos com o aminoácido Lys são os mais estáveis e os com Arg os menos estáveis. A decomposição térmica dos compostos com os três aminoácidos é distinta, porém dentro de cada série o processo ocorre de forma similar. Através das curvas termogravimétricas, além de informações quanto à estabilidade e os processos de decomposição térmica, foi possível também determinar a quantidade de moléculas de água, bem como as percentagens dos íons terras raras. / A study involving the interaction of rare-earth (III) hydrated picrates and amino acids is reported in this work. The addition compounds with L-arginine (Arg), L-Iysine (Lys) and L-Ieucine (Leu) were prepared and characterized by severaI common techniques. The compounds were prepared in the molar ratio 1:2 (hydrated salts: ligands, Arg, Lys and Leu) using specific synthetic routes for each amino acid. The Arg and Lys complexes are partially soluble in water and insoluble in ethanol, methanol,acetonitrile and nitromethane. The Leu complexes are soluble in water, acetone, ethanol, methanol and nitromethane; they are partially soluble in acetonitrile and they are non-electrolytes in acetone and nitromethane. The general formulae for the complexes, determined by EOTA titrations, elemental analyses and thermogravimetry, are RE(pic) 3.2AA.2H2O and RE(pic) 3.2Leu.5H2) (RE =La-Lu and Y, pic =picrate, AA =Arg and Lys). In all compounds, the amino acids are bonded to RE(III) ions through the &#945;aminogroup nitrogen atom and picrates, at least partially, are coordinated as bidentate ligands, through the phenoxy oxygen and one o-nitrogroup oxygen atom, as evidenced by IR absorption spectra. The Arg and Lys complexes display only one isomorphous series, but the Leu compounds present three isomorphous series. Parameters obtained from visible absorption spectra of the Nd complexes indicate that ligand-metal bonds are weakly covalent. Eu complexes are luminescent, both at room temperature and at 77K. Tb complexes are not luminescent, since their upper emitting state is above the Iigand\'s triplet state. The position of this state was determined by the picrate phosphorescence spectra of the Gd compound. Spectral characteristics, as well as the biexponential decay of Eu luminescence suggest that there is more than one coordination environment around the Eu(III) ion and that these complexes have polymeric structures. The stability and thermal behavior of these compounds were studied by thermogravimetry (TG), derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In the three series of complexes thermal stability is similar, but the Lys complexes are the most stable and the Arg complexes the least stable ones. Thermal decompositions differ, but in each series the decomposition is similar. From TG curves it was possible also to determine water contents and the RE percent compositions.

Este projeto visa à obtenção do megazol e de seus derivados, que possam ser comparados quanto a sua atividade biológica, no intuito de produzir um análogo mais potente e menos tóxico. O megazol, estrutura de interesse do trabalho proposto, foi sintetizado inicialmente em 1968 por Asato e Berkelhammer utilizando o 5-nitroirnidazol como material de partida. Nos anos 80, pesquisadores brasileiros da Fundação Instituto Oswaldo Cruz e do Centro René Rachou, devido a grande incidência da doença de Chagas no Brasil, relacionaram um grande número de substâncias químicas até então indicadas como ativas contra o Trypanosoma cruzi. Dentre estas substâncias, o megazol foi o que apresentou um grande interesse, pois em testes \"in vivo\" em ratos mostrou um efeito curativo significativo, em dose única. A partir daí, estudos desta molécula e análogos tornaram-se imprescindíveis, no intuito de determinar o mecanismo de ação desta estrutura e seus potenciais efeitos tóxicos. A rota de síntese utilizada como enfoque foi a descrita por Albuquerque em 1995 e otimizada por Moretto em 2001. No presente trabalho, obtiveram-se seis derivados do megazol a partir da modificação da função amina ligada ao anel 1,3,4 tiadiazólico. Uma destas modificações foi realizada pela sua reação com cloretos ou anidridos de ácidos, outra foi a partir da diazotação e substituição pelo átomo de cloro, e a substituição do cloro pelo metoxi. Os derivados obtidos foram testados em culturas de células Vero infectadas com Trypanosoma cruzi e analisados em relação ao índice de infecção do parasita. Até o presente momento três compostos mostraram-se tão ativos quanto ao megazol. Os dados obtidos serão empregados para ampliar não só O estudo de novos fármacos anti-chagásicos, mas também para uma melhor compreensão dos processos químicos envolvidos na síntese de intermediários do tipo 5-nitroirnidazóis. / This project aims the synthesis of megazol and some derivatives, with more powerful and better biological activity. Megazol, the chemical structure of interest in this work, was synthesized initially in 1968 for Asato and Berkelhammer using 5-nitroimidazol as a starting material. In years 80, Brazilian researchers of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute Foundation and René Rachou Center, had related a great number of chemical substances active against the Trypanosoma cruzi, illness very common in Brazil One of these substances, the megazol, presented a great interest, as the tests \"in vivo\" in rats showed significant curative effect, in only one dose. As a result of this biological test, more accurate studies of the analogous molecules had become essential, in intention to determine the mechanism of action of this structure and its potential toxic effect. The synthesis route was that described by Albuquerque in 1995, and optimized by Moretto in 2001. In the present work, six derivatives of megazol resulted from the chemical modification from the amine of 1,3,4 thiadiazolic ring. One of these modifications was made by the reaction with anhydrides, chlorides or acids; another one was from the diazotation and substitution by the chlorine atom, and the substitution of chlorine by the methoxy group. The gotten derivatives had been tested in cultures of Vero cells infected with Trypanosoma cruzi and analyzed in relation to the parasite infection index. Until now three compounds presented a higher activity than megazol. The gotten data will be used not only for extend the study of new drugs against the Trypanosoma cruzi, but also for better understanding of the involved chemical processes in the 5-nitroimidazoles intermediate synthesis.

O estudo envolvendo a interação entre picratos de terras raras (III) hidratados e aminoácidos é reportado no presente trabalho. Este estudo consiste na preparação dos compostos de adição entre esses sais e os aminoácidos Larginina (Arg), L-lisina (Lys) e L-Ieucina (Leu), bem como a caracterização dos mesmos utilizando várias técnicas físico-químicas e analíticas. Os compostos foram preparados na relação molar 1:2 entre os respectivos sais hidratados e os ligantes (Arg, Lys e Leu) utilizando rotas de sínteses específicas para cada um desses aminoácidos. Os compostos obtidos são sólidos pouco cristalinos e higroscópicos. Os compostos com Arg e Lys são aparentemente, parcialmente solúveis em água e insolúveis em etanol, metanol, acetonitrila e nitrometano. Os compostos com Leu são aparentemente, solúveis em água, acetona, etanol, metanol, nitrometano, parcialmente solúveis em acetonitrila e comportam-se como não-eletrólitos em soluções de acetona e nitrometano. As fórmulas gerais dos compostos foram propostas tomando-se como base os teores de terras raras obtidos por análise complexométrica com EDTA e termogravimetria, dos teores de água também obtidos por termogravimetria, além dos teores de C, N e H obtidos por análise elementar. Através da combinação desses resultados foi possível sugerir as seguintes fórmulas gerais: TR(pic)32AA.2H2O e TR(pic)32Leu.5H2O (TR = La - Lu e Y, pic = picrato, AA = Arg e Lys). Em todos os compostos, os aminoácidos estão coordenados aos íons terras raras através do átomo de nitrogênio do grupo amino do carbono &#945; e os picratos, pelos menos em parte, estão coordenados de forma bidentada, através do átomo de oxigênio do grupo fenólico e um átomo de oxigênio de um dos grupos orto-nitro, conforme evidenciado por espectros de absorção no infravermelho. Todos os compostos de lisina são isomorfos entre si. Os compostos TR(pic)3.2Arg.2H2O (TR = La - Nd e Gd - Lu) formam uma série isomorfa, porém os compostos TR(pic)32Arg.2H2O (TR = Sm, Eu e Y) não pertencem a série citada e também não são isomorfos entre si. Os compostos de leucina formam três séries isomorfas. A primeira série corresponde aos compostos dos elementos La - Nd, a segunda Tb e Gd e a terceira Ho - Lu e Y. Os compostos de Sm, Eu e Dy não pertencem as séries citadas e também não são isomorfos entre si. Através dos parâmetros obtidos dos espectros de absorção na região do visível dos compostos de neodímio, foi verificado que as ligações metais-ligantes são de baixo caráter covalente. Os compostos de európio apresentam luminescência à temperatura ambiente e 77 K, já os compostos com térbio não mostram luminescência devido a seu estado emissor estar acima do estado tripleto do ligante, sendo este determinado utilizando o espectro de fosforescência do picrato, no complexo de gadolínio. As características espectrais e o comportamento biexponencial dos compostos de európio mostram que existe a presença de mais de um ambiente químico ao redor do íon Eu3+, ou seja, os compostos podem formar estruturas poliméricas. A estabilidade e o comportamento térmico dos compostos foram estudados por meio das técnicas de termogravimetrialtermogravimetria derivada (TG/DTG) e calorimetria exploratória diferencial (DSC). A estabilidade térmica dos compostos dentro de cada série é semelhante e comparando os compostos com os três aminoácidos, verifica-se que os compostos com o aminoácido Lys são os mais estáveis e os com Arg os menos estáveis. A decomposição térmica dos compostos com os três aminoácidos é distinta, porém dentro de cada série o processo ocorre de forma similar. Através das curvas termogravimétricas, além de informações quanto à estabilidade e os processos de decomposição térmica, foi possível também determinar a quantidade de moléculas de água, bem como as percentagens dos íons terras raras. / A study involving the interaction of rare-earth (III) hydrated picrates and amino acids is reported in this work. The addition compounds with L-arginine (Arg), L-Iysine (Lys) and L-Ieucine (Leu) were prepared and characterized by severaI common techniques. The compounds were prepared in the molar ratio 1:2 (hydrated salts: ligands, Arg, Lys and Leu) using specific synthetic routes for each amino acid. The Arg and Lys complexes are partially soluble in water and insoluble in ethanol, methanol,acetonitrile and nitromethane. The Leu complexes are soluble in water, acetone, ethanol, methanol and nitromethane; they are partially soluble in acetonitrile and they are non-electrolytes in acetone and nitromethane. The general formulae for the complexes, determined by EOTA titrations, elemental analyses and thermogravimetry, are RE(pic) 3.2AA.2H2O and RE(pic) 3.2Leu.5H2) (RE =La-Lu and Y, pic =picrate, AA =Arg and Lys). In all compounds, the amino acids are bonded to RE(III) ions through the &#945;aminogroup nitrogen atom and picrates, at least partially, are coordinated as bidentate ligands, through the phenoxy oxygen and one o-nitrogroup oxygen atom, as evidenced by IR absorption spectra. The Arg and Lys complexes display only one isomorphous series, but the Leu compounds present three isomorphous series. Parameters obtained from visible absorption spectra of the Nd complexes indicate that ligand-metal bonds are weakly covalent. Eu complexes are luminescent, both at room temperature and at 77K. Tb complexes are not luminescent, since their upper emitting state is above the Iigand\'s triplet state. The position of this state was determined by the picrate phosphorescence spectra of the Gd compound. Spectral characteristics, as well as the biexponential decay of Eu luminescence suggest that there is more than one coordination environment around the Eu(III) ion and that these complexes have polymeric structures. The stability and thermal behavior of these compounds were studied by thermogravimetry (TG), derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In the three series of complexes thermal stability is similar, but the Lys complexes are the most stable and the Arg complexes the least stable ones. Thermal decompositions differ, but in each series the decomposition is similar. From TG curves it was possible also to determine water contents and the RE percent compositions.

Este projeto visa à obtenção do megazol e de seus derivados, que possam ser comparados quanto a sua atividade biológica, no intuito de produzir um análogo mais potente e menos tóxico. O megazol, estrutura de interesse do trabalho proposto, foi sintetizado inicialmente em 1968 por Asato e Berkelhammer utilizando o 5-nitroirnidazol como material de partida. Nos anos 80, pesquisadores brasileiros da Fundação Instituto Oswaldo Cruz e do Centro René Rachou, devido a grande incidência da doença de Chagas no Brasil, relacionaram um grande número de substâncias químicas até então indicadas como ativas contra o Trypanosoma cruzi. Dentre estas substâncias, o megazol foi o que apresentou um grande interesse, pois em testes \"in vivo\" em ratos mostrou um efeito curativo significativo, em dose única. A partir daí, estudos desta molécula e análogos tornaram-se imprescindíveis, no intuito de determinar o mecanismo de ação desta estrutura e seus potenciais efeitos tóxicos. A rota de síntese utilizada como enfoque foi a descrita por Albuquerque em 1995 e otimizada por Moretto em 2001. No presente trabalho, obtiveram-se seis derivados do megazol a partir da modificação da função amina ligada ao anel 1,3,4 tiadiazólico. Uma destas modificações foi realizada pela sua reação com cloretos ou anidridos de ácidos, outra foi a partir da diazotação e substituição pelo átomo de cloro, e a substituição do cloro pelo metoxi. Os derivados obtidos foram testados em culturas de células Vero infectadas com Trypanosoma cruzi e analisados em relação ao índice de infecção do parasita. Até o presente momento três compostos mostraram-se tão ativos quanto ao megazol. Os dados obtidos serão empregados para ampliar não só O estudo de novos fármacos anti-chagásicos, mas também para uma melhor compreensão dos processos químicos envolvidos na síntese de intermediários do tipo 5-nitroirnidazóis. / This project aims the synthesis of megazol and some derivatives, with more powerful and better biological activity. Megazol, the chemical structure of interest in this work, was synthesized initially in 1968 for Asato and Berkelhammer using 5-nitroimidazol as a starting material. In years 80, Brazilian researchers of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute Foundation and René Rachou Center, had related a great number of chemical substances active against the Trypanosoma cruzi, illness very common in Brazil One of these substances, the megazol, presented a great interest, as the tests \"in vivo\" in rats showed significant curative effect, in only one dose. As a result of this biological test, more accurate studies of the analogous molecules had become essential, in intention to determine the mechanism of action of this structure and its potential toxic effect. The synthesis route was that described by Albuquerque in 1995, and optimized by Moretto in 2001. In the present work, six derivatives of megazol resulted from the chemical modification from the amine of 1,3,4 thiadiazolic ring. One of these modifications was made by the reaction with anhydrides, chlorides or acids; another one was from the diazotation and substitution by the chlorine atom, and the substitution of chlorine by the methoxy group. The gotten derivatives had been tested in cultures of Vero cells infected with Trypanosoma cruzi and analyzed in relation to the parasite infection index. Until now three compounds presented a higher activity than megazol. The gotten data will be used not only for extend the study of new drugs against the Trypanosoma cruzi, but also for better understanding of the involved chemical processes in the 5-nitroimidazoles intermediate synthesis.