Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

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Quinolinate phosphoribosyltransferase (QPRTase, EC 2.4.2.19) is an intriguing enzyme which appears to catalyse two distinct chemical reactions; transfer of a phosphoribosyl moiety from 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate to the nitrogen of quinolinic acid and decarboxylation at the 2-position to give nicotinic acid mononucleotide. The chemical mechanism of QPRTase is not fully understood. In particular, enzymatic involvement in the decarboxylation step is yet to be conclusively proven. QPRTase is neurologically important as it degrades the potent neurotoxin, quinolinic acid, implicated in diseases such as Huntington’s disease and AIDS related dementia. Due to its neurological importance and unusual chemistry the mechanism of QPRTase is important. Described here is a mechanistic study on human brain QPRTase. Human brain QPRTase was successfully expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) from the pEHISTEV-QPRTase construct and the protein was efficiently purified by nickel affinity chromatography. The crystal structure was solved using multiwavelength methods to a resolution of 1.9 Å. Human brain QPRTase was found to adopt an energetically stable hexameric arrangement. The enzyme was also found to exist as a hexamer during gel filtration under physiological conditions. Kinetic studies allowed the measurement of the kinetic parameters for quinolinic acid. The data gave a Km of 13.4 ± 1.0 μM and a Vmax of 0.92 ± 0.01 μM min-1. There was no evidence for cooperative binding of quinolinic acid to the six subunits of the QPRTase hexamer. The enzyme showed maximum activity at approximately pH 6. The active site of human brain QPRTase is a deep pocket with a highly positive electrostatic surface composed of three arginine residues, two lysine residues and one histidine residue. Mutation of these residues resulted in either complete loss or significant reduction in enzymatic activity showing they are important for binding and/or catalysis. A possible mechanism involving QPRTase in the decarboxylation of quinolinic acid mononucleotide was proposed. A series of quinolinic acid analogues were synthesised and tested as inhibitors of QPRTase. The inhibition studies highlighted some key interactions in the active site.

The use of palladium-catalyzed reactions to introduce new carbon-carbon bonds is a fundamental synthetic strategy that has been widely embraced due to its high chemo- and regioselectivity and functional group tolerance. In this context, Pd(0)-catalyzed aminocarbonylations using Mo(CO)6 instead of toxic and gaseous CO and with allylamine as the nucleophile were investigated. The aminocarbonylated product dominated over the Mizoroki-Heck product, and (hetero)aryl iodides, bromides and chlorides gave N-allylbenzamides in good yields. In this thesis improvements to an existing protocol for the Pd(II)-catalyzed synthesis of aryl ketones from five benzoic acids and a variety of nitriles are also presented. Addition of TFA improved the yields and employing THF as solvent enabled the use of solid nitriles, and the aryl ketones were isolated in good yields. The pandemic of HIV infection is one of the greatest public health issues of our time and approximately 35.3 million people worldwide are living with HIV. There are currently many drugs on the market targeting various parts of the viral reproduction cycle, but the problems of resistance warrant the search for new drugs. HIV-1 protease makes the virus mature into infectious particles. In this thesis a new type of HIV-1 protease inhibitor (PI) is presented, based on two of the PIs on the market, atazanavir and indinavir, but it has a tertiary alcohol, as well as a two-carbon tether between the quaternary carbon and the hydrazide β-nitrogen. A total of 25 new inhibitors were designed, synthesized and biologically evaluated, the best compound had an EC50 value of 3 nM. Based on this series a project aimed at synthesizing macrocycles spanning the P1-P3 area was initiated. Macrocycles often tend to have an improved affinity and metabolic profile compared to their linear analogs. Introduction of a handle in the para position of the P1 benzyl group proved difficult, despite efforts to synthesize intermediates containing either a bromo-, hydroxy-, methoxy-, silyl-group protected hydroxy- or an alkyne-group. The lactone intermediate was abandoned in favor of an alternative synthetic route and initial studies were found to be promising. This new approach requires further investigation before the target macrocycles can be synthesized.

This thesis describes research efforts dedicated to the development of palladium(II)-catalyzed oxidative Heck and Heck/Suzuki domino reactions, and the applications of a new microwave heating technology, purpose-built for continuous flow in organic synthesis. Paper I describes the development of a ligand-modulated approach for attaching aryl groups to a chelating vinyl ether. By switching the ligand being used, selectivity for the arylation could be shifted to obtain three different outcomes: internal α- or terminal β-arylation, as well as a serendipitously discovered domino α,β-diarylation process. The latter was proposed to be an effect of para-benzoquinone, effectively acting as a stabilizing π-acidic ligand with the ability to suppress β-hydride elimination. Paper II explores the performance of a new microwave heating technology in combination with continuous flow. The novel nonresonant microwave applicator allowed rapid heating of common laboratory solvents and reaction mixtures above their boiling points with stable and reproducible temperature profiles. The technology was successfully applied to small-scale method development and subsequent scale-out of palladium-catalyzed reactions, heterocycle synthesis and classical organic transformations such as the Fischer indole synthesis. Paper III focuses on developing regioselective oxidative decarboxylative Heck reactions with electron-rich olefins. Successful internal α-arylations were achieved using various olefins and ortho-substituted aromatic acids. The mechanism was also studied by ESI-MS analysis. Key cationic organopalladium intermediates were identified, as well as an unexpected palladium(II)-complex which was isolated and characterized. Its experimentally deduced structure was in accordance with the lowest energy minimum found by DFT calculations. Preliminary findings suggested that the complex acts as a catalyst trap. Paper IV studies the mechanism of the reaction in Paper III by means of DFT calculations. Reductive elimination was identified as the rate-determining step when using a linear enamide as the olefin, due to its propensity to form low energy chelates. Its chelating properties also played a key role in the stability of the isolated palladium(II)-complex. The complex, which can act as a catalyst trap, was characterized by X-ray crystallography.

Orientador: Carlos Roque Duarte Correia / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T16:35:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ambrosio_JoaoCarlosLaboissiere_M.pdf: 857346 bytes, checksum: 8b2329959d1eba887b05b7407d4958dc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2001 / Resumo: Essa dissertação descreve a síntese enantiosseletiva da (+)-lactona de Geissman-Waiss, importante intermediário sintético na obtenção de bases necínicas e alcalóides pirrolizidínicos tais como a (-)-platinecina e a (+)-retronecina. O enecarbamato quiral de 5 membros foi preparado a partir da L-prolina. Este foi submetido às condições de cicloadição [2+2] frente ao dicloroceteno levando à formação da diclorociclobutanona como um único diastereoisômero. Remoção dos cloros seguido de uma reação de Baeyer-Villiger levou à lactona, que foi submetida às condições de descarboxilação descritas por Boger completando a síntese enantiosseletiva da N-Boc lactona de Geissman-Waiss (rendimento global de 11%). Uma segunda síntese da (+)-lactona de Geissman-Waiss foi completada, desta vez partindo do ácido L-piroglutâmico evitando, assim, a etapa de oxidação com RuCl3 (rendimento global de 14%). Nessa segunda fase do projeto, a reação de descarboxilação foi utilizada para a formação do sistema azabiciclo[3.2.0] 5-heptanona quiral que pode vir a ser um intermediário avançado na síntese da (-)-detoxinina / Abstract: This dissertation describes the enantiosselective synthesis of the (+)-Geissman-Waiss Lactone, an important synthetic intermediate in the obtainment of necinic bases and pyrrolizidinic alkaloids such as the (-)-platinecin and (+)-retronecin. L-proline was the starting material for the synthesis of the chiral five membered enecarbamate. The enecarbamate underwent a [2 + 2] cycloaddition with dichloroketene leading to the formation of the dichlorociclobutanone as an exclusive diastereoisomer. Chlorine removal followed by Baeyer-Villiger cycloexpansion lead to a lactone, which, under Boger's decarboxilation procedure, completed the enantiosselective synthesis of N-Boc Geissman-Waiss lactone (11% overall yield). A second attempt to synthesize (+)-Geissman-Waiss lactone, utilized L-pyroglutamic acid as starting meterial avoiding, thus, the oxidation step utilizing RuCl3. The synthesis was completed with 14% overall yield. In this second phase of the project the decarboxilation reaction was employed to generate the chiral azabycicle[3.2.0] 5-heptanone moiety which is a synthetic intermediate for the synthesis of the (-)-detoxinine / Mestrado / Quimica Organica / Mestre em Química

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(エネルギー科学) / 甲第22085号 / エネ博第393号 / 新制||エネ||76(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院エネルギー科学研究科エネルギー社会・環境科学専攻 / (主査)教授 河本 晴雄, 教授 石原 慶一, 教授 川那辺 洋 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Energy Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

The variation in the carbon isotope composition of the cap rock of Texas and Louisiana sulphur wells was investigated by means of a simultaneous collection mass spectrometer. These rocks showed anomalously large depletions in C-13. The isotope depletion in the decarboxylation of pyruvic acid, both by chemical means and by bacteria, was measured and the isotope composition of the carbon dioxide released was found to be similar to that of the cap rock. The hypothesis is advanced that the carbonate of the cap rock may have originated by the precipitation of carbon dioxide released in the bacterial decarboxylation of an organic substrate. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)