Thesis (Ph. D.)--Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Dr. J. Carson Meredith, Committee Chair ; Dr. Charles A. Eckert, Committee Member ; Dr. Clifford L. Henderson, Committee Member ; Dr. Rigoberto Hernandez, Committee Member ; Dr. Peter J. Ludovice, Committee Member. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

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Stacking interactions, also known as π-π or face-to-face interactions, occur between molecules whose π bonds are in parallel planes. They are used to design self-assembling structures in nanotechnology, influence organic reactions and are ubiquitous in nature. The stacking interactions of substituted benzene heterodimers and substituted benzene-natural nucleobase heterodimers are examined. Both electron-donating and withdrawing groups are studied by varying their type, number and location around the benzene ring. The studies are done by carrying out systematic scans of the potential energy surface at the MP2/6-31G*(0.25) level of theory. Charge transfer interactions and extent of charge separation in the monomer are found to be dominant when the difference in ESP between the monomers is large and small, respectively. Dipole-dipole interactions are also found to affect stacking interactions. The results from MP2/6-31G*(0.25) are checked against those at the CCSD(T)/CBS limit for select cases and are found to be within 81- 110%. / xii, 166 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The human genome encodes 19 members of the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) superfamily, critical enzymes involved in the metabolism of aldehyde substrates. A major function of the ALDH1A subfamily is the oxidation of retinaldehyde to retinoic acid, a key regulator of numerous cell growth and differentiation pathways. ALDH1A1 has been identified as a biomarker for both normal stem cells and cancer stem cells. Small molecule probes are needed to better understand the role of this enzyme in both normal and disease states. However, there are no commercially available, small molecules that selectively inhibit ALDH1A1. Our goal is to identify and characterize small molecule inhibitors of ALDH1A1 as chemical tools and as potential therapeutics. To better understand the basis for selective inhibition of ALDH1A1, we characterized N,N-diethylaminobenzaldehyde (DEAB), which is a commonly used inhibitor of ALDH1A1 and purported to be selective. DEAB serves as the negative control for the Aldefluor assay widely utilized to identify stem cells. Rather than being a selective inhibitor for ALDH1A1, we found that DEAB is a slow substrate for multiple ALDH isoenzymes, and depending on the rate of turnover, DEAB behaves as either a traditional substrate or as an inhibitor. Due to its very slow turnover, DEAB is a potent inhibitor of ALDH1A1 with respect to propionaldehyde oxidation, but it is not a good candidate for the development of selective ALDH1A1 inhibitors because of its promiscuity. Next, to discover novel selective inhibitors, we used an in vitro, high-throughput screen of 64,000 compounds to identify 256 hits that either activate or inhibit ALDH1A1 activity. We have characterized two structural classes of compounds, CM026 and CM037, using enzyme kinetics and X-ray crystallographic structural data. Both classes contained potent and selective inhibitors for ALDH1A1. Structural studies of ALDH1A1 with CM026 showed that CM026 binds at the active site, and its selectivity is achieved by a single residue substitution. Importantly, CM037 selectively inhibits proliferation of ALDH+ ovarian cancer cells. The discovery of these two selective classes of ALDH1A1 inhibitors may be useful in delineating the role of ALDH1A1 in biological processes and may seed the development of new chemotherapeutic agents.