Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Science / A concise stereo-selective synthesis of a protected form of APTO 1, an unusual amino acid component of microsclerodermin C 2, was undertaken. Sequential Sharpless Asymmetric Aminohydroxylation (AA) and Asymmetric Dihydroxylation (AD) reactions were used to introduce the chiral amino and hydroxyl groups. Specific directing groups were chosen to ensure high regio- and enantio-selectivity in these reactions. The target compound was reached in a linear reaction sequence of fourteen steps. The strategy was designed to generate common intermediates which could be used to access analogous amino acid fragments in other microsclerodermins. A protected form of AETD 3, from microsclerodermin E, was synthesised via a late-stage common intermediate. Initial studies into the modification of the sequence to allow access to AMPTD 4 and 10-methyl AMPTD 5 were made.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Science / A concise stereo-selective synthesis of a protected form of APTO 1, an unusual amino acid component of microsclerodermin C 2, was undertaken. Sequential Sharpless Asymmetric Aminohydroxylation (AA) and Asymmetric Dihydroxylation (AD) reactions were used to introduce the chiral amino and hydroxyl groups. Specific directing groups were chosen to ensure high regio- and enantio-selectivity in these reactions. The target compound was reached in a linear reaction sequence of fourteen steps. The strategy was designed to generate common intermediates which could be used to access analogous amino acid fragments in other microsclerodermins. A protected form of AETD 3, from microsclerodermin E, was synthesised via a late-stage common intermediate. Initial studies into the modification of the sequence to allow access to AMPTD 4 and 10-methyl AMPTD 5 were made.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / This study focuses on the learning experiences of adult learners entering higher education for the first time. Based in the Department of Adult Education and Extra-Mural Studies at the University of Cape Town, it analyses the experiences of successful adult learners on the first year (1995) of a formal Certificate Programme in Adult Education, Training and Development. The study concludes that the ways in which contexts and learning relate is complex. We need to understand that it is at the intersection of the individual and the social that meaning is made and negotiated in learning. This understanding, it is argued, is crucial to better understand the relationship between access, learning and success - within but also across contexts. The implications of this are raised tentatively by looking at alternative approaches to curriculum development and teaching-learning processes.