Du fait de l'extrême acidité des milieux superacides, le comportement des composés organiques y est particulièrement singulier, et en particulier celui des composé azotés. Ces milieux permettent d'accéder par polyprotonation à des intermédiaires superélectrophiles polycationiques, capables d'être piégés par des nucléophiles faibles, comme les ions fluorures solvatés du milieu ou des aromatiques désactivés. L'activation superélectrophile permet en outre d'accéder à une régiosélectivité unique en rendant certains sites réactifs, insensibles dans les milieux acides plus classiques.Dans la première partie de ce travail est étudiée une réaction d'addition anti-Markovnikov sur des anilines N-allyliques dans le mélange HF/SbF5. Une étude mécanistique a été réalisée incluant la modélisation d'intermédiaires réactionnels, des expériences de RMN in situ ainsi que des réactions avec des substrats marqués. Grâce à cette étude, une nouvelle réaction de type Friedel-Crafts permettant d'accéder à des tétrahydroquinolines désactivées a été mise au point. De plus, en modifiant les conditions opératoires, la synthèse d'anilines β-fluorées a également pu être réalisée. Ces réactions ont ensuite été appliquées à la synthèse de nouveaux composés hétérocycliques.La deuxième partie est consacrée au développement d'une nouvelle réaction d'hydrofluoration dynamides dans l'acide fluorhydrique anhydre. Cette méthodologie permet d'accéder à des (E)-α-fluoroènamides orginales avec un excellente régio- et stéréo-sélectivité. Par analogie avec les fluorooléfines qui sont connues pour mimer les fonctions amides, ces composés sont potentiellement de nouveaux bioisostères rigides d'urées, avec des app / Thanks to the extrem acidity of superacid media, the behavior of organic compound in these conditions is especially original. These media provide access by polyprotonation to superelectrophilic polycationic intermediates able to be trapped by very weak nucleophiles such as solvated fluoride ions or deactivated aromatic. In addition, the superelectrophic activation allowed to access to a unique regioselectivity, making some classically unreactive sites very reacive in these conditions.In the first part of this work, an anti-Markovnikov addition of N-allyl anilines in the HF/SbF5 mixture is studied. A mechanistic study was performed including the modeling of reaction intermediates, in situ NMR experiments and reactions with labeled substrates. Through this study, a new Friedel-Crafts type reaction was perform and applied to deactivated tetrahydroquinoline synthesis. In addition, the synthesis of β-fluorinated anilines could also be performed. These reactions were then applied to the synthesis of new heterocyclic compounds.The second part deals with the developement of a new hydrofluorination reaction of yanmides using anhydrous fluorhydric acid. This methodology allowed the synthesis of original (E)-α-fluoroenamides with an excellent regio- and stereo-selectivity. By analogy with fluoroolefins which are known to be mimics of amides, these compounds are potentially new rigid bioisosters of ureas with further potent applications in medicinal chemistry.

Ce travail est consacré à l’étude des propriétés de systèmes à base de tensioactifs non ioniques hydrogéné et fluoré dans le but de préparer des matériaux poreux silicatés. L’effet de la solubilisation d’hexadécane ou de décane dans des micelles de C12H25CO(OC2H4)9OCH3 conduit à la formation de silices mésoporeuses à plus larges pores, tandis qu’aucun effet de gonflement n’est observé avec l’ajout de cyclohexane. Lorsque les matériaux sont préparés avec des micelles de C8F17C2H4(OC2H4)9OH, l’ajout de perflorooctylbromure (PFOBr) augmente la taille des mésopores. Par ailleurs, l’incorporation de grandes quantités de PFOBr ou de perfluorodécaline conduit à la formation de macropores. Avec C7F15C2H4(OC2H4)8OH, l’incorporation de (C4F9CH)2 permet d’élargir les mésopores et de créer un réseau de macropores, tandis que l’ajout de PFOBr ne conduit ni à la formation de mésopore, ni à la formation de macropore. Les résultats mettent en évidence que la formation de matériaux macroporeux à partir d’émulsions hydrogénées ou fluorées est favorisée avec les systèmes qui présentent des valeurs de PIT (Température d’Inversion de Phase) élevées. Pour finir, l’effet de l’addition de différents alcools dans le système à base de C8F17C2H4(OC2H4)9OH a été étudié. La détermination des paramètres structuraux de la phase cristal liquide hexagonal, indique que les alcools à courte ou moyenne chaîne jouent le rôle de solvant, tandis que le fluoro-octanol joue celui d’un co-tensioactif. L’addition d’alcools courts provoque la destruction progressive des micelles qui perturbe le mécanisme d’auto-assemblage et les matériaux obtenus présentent des structures vermiformes / This work deals with the study of the properties of nonionic hydrogenated and fluorinated surfactant based systems which are related to the synthesis of porous silica. The effect of the solubilization of low fraction of hexadecane or decane in the micelles of C12H25CO(OC2H4)9OCH3 leads to the formation of large mesoporous silica, whereas no swelling effect was noted with cyclohexane. When the materials are templated by fluorinated micelles of C8F17C2H4(OC2H4)9OH, large pore mesoporous materials are obtained with perfluorooctyl bromide (PFOBr). Both PFOBr and perfluorodecalin give rise to macropores at high oil concentrations. With C7F15C2H4(OC2H4)8OH, the fluorocarbon (C4F9CH)2 is not only an effective expander to enlarge the pore size of mesoporous materials, but also very favourable for the design of macropore network. On the contrary, with PFOBr, there is neither mesopore nor macropore. Therefore, both hydrogenated and fluorinated systems obey to the same rule: the formation of macroporous materials template by emulsions is favoured with systems which exhibit a high value of the PIT. Lastly, alcohols used as additives in the C8F17C2H4(OC2H4)9OH -water system to tune the characteristics of the recovered materials. The structural parameters of the hexagonal liquid crystal show the short and medium alcohols behaved like solvent, while the long chain and fluorinated octanol acted as co-surfactant. The short alcohols provoke a micelle breaking effect. Thus, the self-assembly mechanism is disturbed and wormhole-like structures are recovered

Varaktig vattenavvisning från engelskans Durable Water Repellents (DWR) är en kemi som appliceras på textil för att göra den motståndskraftig mot vätska. En DWR-kemi som visat sig vara till stor belastning för miljön och därför genomgått en utfasning inom industrin är fluorkarboner. Detta har lett till fluorfria alternativ och även modifierade fluorkarboner vilka det finns bristande information kring gällande risker för miljö och hälsa. I och med övergången från fluorerade DWR till de fluorfria alternativen aktualiserades frågan kring hur ”durable”, alltså motståndskraftiga mot tvätt och användning, dessa verkligen är. Detta har resulterat i ett stort utbud av konsumentprodukter för återupplivning av vattenavvisning på beklädnad i hemmamiljö. Dessa konsumentprodukter har benämnts som återimpregneringar i denna studie. Återimpregneringar kan göra att användaren förblir nöjd med beklädnaden och detta minskar i sin tur det textila avfallet. Området är outforskat och industrin vill veta mer om dessa konsumentprodukter inklusive hur det textila materialet påverkas av dem. Studien har utgått från ett kundperspektiv vid val av relevanta parametrar och på ett kreativt sätt översatt dessa till laborativa testmetoder. De parametrar som funnits med i studien har varit vattenavvisning, färgförändring, luftgenomsläpplighet samt känsla vilka har använts för analys och jämförelse mellan åtta stycken fluorfria återimpregneringar. Två etablerade appliceringstekniker, wash-in och spray-on, har undersökts på fyra olika textilier som skulle kunna representera frilufts- samt arbetskläder. Två av textilierna var av polyester och två var av polyamid. Samtliga återimpregneringar gav en ökad vattenavvisande effekt. Resultatet varierade beroende på vilket textilt material och vilken återimpregnering som användes. De övriga testmetoderna, färgförändring, luftgenomsläpplighet och böjstyvhet, visade även de liknande variationer i resultaten. Wash-in och spray-on teknikerna kunde generellt visa på statistiska skillnader. Även produkter med samma varumärke applicerade med wash-in och spray-on teknik visade skilda resultat. De laborativa testmetoderna som valts ut visade sig vara användbara verktyg för utvärdering av återimpregneringar vid textilapplicering.  Utifrån litteraturens rön och denna studies resultat har slutsatsen dragits att konsumentprodukter för återimpregnering av textil har betydande skillnader beroende av vilken DWR-kemi de består av samt textiliens konstruktion och fibersort. Det säkraste fluorfria alternativet ur miljösynpunkt tros av rapportförfattarna vara vax som klassas som en kolväteskemi, men det finns mycket kvar att utforska innan en sådan slutsats kan dras med säkerhet. Denna studie har varit ett inledande steg mot att undersöka återimpregneringar som förhoppningsvis i framtiden kan leda till ett minskat textilt avfall med minsta möjliga miljöbelastning. / The textile industry uses durable water repellents (DWR) to achieve water repellency on textiles. One of these DWR chemistries, fluorocarbons, is an environmental issue and has therefore been phased-out in the industry. This has resulted in a market where both modified fluorocarbons and fluorine-free alternatives are available and there is a lack of information about these DWR regarding health and environmental aspects. Due to the changeover from the fluorinated DWR to the non-fluorinated options, the question was raised about how durable these really are. This resulted in a wide range of do-it-yourself consumer products for the water repellency revival. These consumer products have been referred to as reimpregnations in this study. The purpose of reimpregnations is to give clothing a longer life cycle. The customer remains satisfied with the garment and this in turn reduces the textile waste. The industry wants to know more about these unexplored consumer products, including how the textile material is affected by them. A customer perspective has been the basis for selecting relevant parameters in this study, which has been creatively translated into laboratory test methods. Parameters in this study have been water repellency, color change, air permeability and fabric hand. These have been used for analysis and comparison of eight fluorine-free reimpregnations. The techniques used were wash-in and spray-on and have been investigated on four different textiles representing outdoor clothing and workwear, two made of polyester and two of polyamide. All the reimpregnations showed an increased effect in water repellency. The result varied depending on which textile material and what kind of reimpregnation that was used. The other test methods also showed variation according to these factors. Over all the wash-in and spray-on techniques showed a statistical significance. Products from the same brand applied with wash-in and spray-on techniques also showed different results. The selected laboratory test methods proved to be useful tools for evaluation of reimpregnations in textile applications. Based on the literature combined with the results from this study the conclusion has been made that reimpregnation, of textile materials, has a significant difference between DWR chemistries as well as the construction and fibre type of the textile. The safest fluorine-free option, from an environmental point of view, is believed to be wax, which is classified as a hydrocarbon chemistry, however there is much left to explore before such a conclusion can be made with certainty. This study has been an initial step towards the investigation of reimpregnations, which hopefully in the future can lead to reduced textile waste with as little environmental impact as possible.

The thesis deals with the processes that occur in the course of the manufacturing of rigid polyurethane-polyisocyanurate (PU-PIR) foams, their properties and technology. It deals above all with principles of foam nucleation and stability. The purpose of understanding these principles is their possible use for improving thermo-insulating properties of the material. The experimental part of the thesis studies the influence of additives and ultrasound on the PU-PIR foam properties. It has been found that low molecular weight compounds with perfluorinated chain leads to decreasing foam cell size and its lower thermal conductivity. The additives mentioned act probably on the surfactants principle by facilitating nucleation and stabilizing growing centres of bubbles. They probably form also part of blowing agents mixture inside the foam cells which cause lowering of thermal conductivity as well. Compounds with similar chemical structure have unique influence on the properties of rigid PU-PIR foams. Further research ought to be focused on cheaper modes of producing perfluorinated compounds.

Sa conductivité électronique ou encore sa transparence optique sont autant de propriétés physico-chimiques singulières du graphène qui expliquent le nombre accru de méthodes d’exfoliation de précurseurs graphitiques développées pour l’obtention de ce matériau. Pour palier à l’utilisation d’un oxyde de graphite/graphène caractérisé par une chimie de surface mal maitrisée, des graphites fluorés, de cristallinité mais aussi de concentration en fluor variables, ont été préparés par fluoration de graphite sous fluor moléculaire pur après optimisation des paramètres. Les précurseurs, que ce soit par fluoration dynamique ou statique, ainsi obtenus ont été caractérisés finement : diffraction des rayons X, spectroscopies IR et Raman et leur texture sondée par Microscopie Electronique à Balayage et à Transmission. Suite à cela, trois méthodes d’exfoliation ont été mises en place, basées sur des mécanismes différents : i) une exfoliation par choc thermique, déjà connue mais dont les mécanismes de décomposition ont été affinés dans cette étude, ii) une exfoliation en voie liquide, avec l’utilisation pour la première fois d’un graphite fluoré pour la synthèse de graphène fluoré multi feuillets par voie électrochimique pulsée, et enfin iii) une méthode originale, peu conventionnelle, basée sur l’interaction laser femtoseconde/graphite hautement fluoré pour induire des mécanismes de réduction contrôlée, et surtout d’exfoliation de la matrice. Ces méthodes ont permis de mettre en évidence l’intérêt de la présence de fluor dans la course actuelle pour la synthèse de graphène, et ont montré l’obtention de matériaux graphéniques,possédant une fonction résiduelle fluorée intéressante pour certaines applications. / Its electronic conductivity or its optical transparency are unequaled physicochemicalproperties of graphene which explain the increased number of exfoliation methods based ongraphitic precursors to obtain this material. To overcome the use of a graphite/graphene oxidecharacterized by a poorly controlled surface chemistry, graphite fluorides, with variablecrystallinity and also fluorine concentration, were prepared by fluorination of graphite under puremolecular fluorine atmosphere after optimization of the process parameters. The obtainedprecursors, whether by dynamic or static fluorination, were characterized : X-Ray diffraction, FTIRand Raman spectroscopies for the structure, and their texture probed by Scanning andTransmission Electron Microscopy. After that, three methods of exfoliation were developed, basedon different mechanisms: i) a thermal shock, already known but decomposition mechanisms wererefined in this study, ii) an exfoliation within liquid medium by pulsed electrochemical treatment,using for the first time a fluorinated graphite for the synthesis of few-layered fluorinated grapheneand finally iii) an unconventional method, based on the interaction between femtosecond laser andhighly fluorinated graphite to induce mechanisms like controlled reduction, and especially for thisstudy exfoliation of the matrix. These methods have permit to highlight the interest of fluorine inthe current race for the synthesis of graphene, and have shown the production of graphenematerials, having an interesting fluorinated residual functionalization for some applications.

Die Dissertation beinhaltet Studien zur Reaktivität von Rhodiumkomplexen gegenüber unterschiedlichen ungesättigten fluorierten Olefinen mit einem Fokus auf C–F Aktivierungs- und Borylierungsreaktionen. Der Rhodium(I)hydridokomplex [Rh(H)(PEt3)3] (1) wurde als Katalysator in den Reaktionen von HFO-1234yf, HFO-1234ze, HFO-1225zc bzw. HFO-1225ye (Z) mit HBpin verwendet. Dabei wurden Produktgemische bestehend aus Borylierungsprodukten erhalten. Die selektive Mono- und Dihydroborierung von 3,3,3-Trifluorpropin konnte durch Verwendung von Komplex 1 als Katalysator erreicht werden. Trifluorethylen konnte durch die Reaktion mit HBpin und Komplex 1 als Katalysator in ein Produktgemisch überführt werden. Stöchiometrische Reaktion zeigen, dass Komplex 1 sowohl unter C–F-Bindungsaktivierung reagiert als auch die Koordination von Trifluorethylen, unter Bildung des Komplexes trans-[Rh(F)(ƞ2-CF2CFH)(PEt3)2], stattfindet. Im Falle von 1,1,2-Trifluorbuten wurde ebenfalls eine C–F-Bindungsaktivierung durch Komplex 1 beobachtet. Mechanistische Untersuchungen der Reaktion von Komplex 1 und 1,1,2-Trifluorbuten bei unterschiedlichen Temperaturen zeigten Hinweise für Koordination & Insertion des Alkens, sowie anschließende β-H-Eliminierung und oxidative C–F-Bindungsadditions- und reduktive HF-Eliminierungsschritte. Außerdem konnte durch Verwendung von Komplex 1 oder [Rh(Bpin)(PEt3)3] (3) als Katalysator eine stöchiometrische und katalytische Hydroborierung von Pentafluorstyren mit HBpin erreicht werden. Die Rhodium(I)komplexe 1 und 3 sind in der Lage das Olefin zu koordinieren und die C–F-Bindung zu aktivieren, während die Verwendung der Verbindung [Rh(Me)(PEt3)3] die C–H-Bindungsaktivierung fördert. Bei 333 K findet die Aktivierung des fluorierten Aromaten in der 4-Stellung statt, während bei Raumtemperatur die Aktivierung in der 2-Stellung bevorzugt ist. / The dissertation reports on studies on the reactivity of rhodium complexes towards different fluorinated olefins with a focus on C–F activation steps and borylation reactions. The rhodium(I) hydrido complex [Rh(H)(PEt3)3] (1) was employed as catalyst in the reactions of HFO-1234yf, HFO-1234ze, HFO-1225zc and HFO-1225ye with HBpin. A product mixture consisting of borylation products was obtained. Selective mono and dihydroboration reactions of 3,3,3-trifluoropropyne were achieved by employing complex 1 as the catalyst. Similarly, trifluoroethylene was also converted into a mixture of products by the reaction with HBpin with complex 1 as the catalyst. A stoichiometric reaction of complex 1 resulted in the C–F bond activation as well as a coordination of trifluoroethylene to give complex trans-[Rh(F)(ƞ2-CF2CFH)(PEt3)2]. Furthermore, the C–F bond activation was also realized with complex 1 and 1,1,2-trifluorobutene. Mechanistic investigations of the reaction of complex 1 towards 1,1,2-trifluorobutene at variable temperatures indicated the formation of products of coordination, insertion of the olefin and subsequent β-H elimination, C–F oxidative addition as well as HF reductive elimination steps. Furthermore, when utilizing complex 1 or [Rh(Bpin)(PEt3)3] (3) as catalysts, stoichiometric and catalytic hydroboration reactions of pentafluorostyrene occurred with HBpin. The rhodium(I) complexes 1 and 3 were capable of the coordination of the olefin and a C–F bond activation reaction with pentafluorostyrene, while complex [Rh(Me)(PEt3)3] promoted the C–H bond activation. At 333 K, the activation of the fluorinated aromatic ring occurred at the 4-position, while at room temperature, an activation at the 2-position was preferred.

New derivatives of carbon nanostructures: nanotubes, nano-onions and nanocrystalline diamonds were obtained through fluorination and subsequent functionalization with sucrose. Chemically modified nanocarbons show high solubility in water, ethanol, DMF and can be used as biomaterials for medical applications. It was demonstrated that sucrose functionalized nanostructures can find applications in nanocomposites due to improved dispersion enabled by polyol functional groups. Additionally, pristine and chemically derivatized carbon nanotubes were studied as nanofillers in epoxy composites. Carbon nanotubes tailored with amino functionalities demonstrated better dispersion and crosslinking with epoxy polymer yielding improved tensile strength and elastic properties of nanocomposites. Reductive functionalization of nanocarbons, also known as Billups reaction, is a powerful method to yield nanomaterials with high degree of surface functionalization. In this method, nanocarbon salts prepared by treatment with lithium or sodium in liquid ammonia react readily with alkyl and aryl halides as well as bromo carboxylic acids. Functionalized materials are soluble in various organic or aqueous solvents. Water soluble nanodiamond derivatives were also synthesized by reductive functionalization of annealed nanodiamonds. Nanodiamond heat pretreatment was necessary to yield surface graphene layers and facilitate electron transfer from reducing agent to the surface of nanoparticles. Other carbon materials such as activated carbon and anthracite coal were also derivatized using reductive functionalization to yield water soluble activated carbon and partially soluble in organic solvents anthracite. It was shown that activated carbon can be effectively functionalized by Billups method. New derivatives of activated carbon can improve water treatment targeting specific impurities and bio active contaminants. It was demonstrated that functionalized carbon nanotubes are suitable for real time radiation measurements. Radiation sensor incorporating derivatized carbon nanotubes is lightweight and reusable. In summary, functionalization of carbon nanomaterials opens new avenues for processing and applications ranging from biomedicine to radiation sensing in space.

Les canaux potassiques sensibles à l’ATP (KATP) jouent un rôle primordial dans plusieurs processus cellulaires. La modulation de ces canaux par des molécules activatrices constituerait des applications pharmacologiques et médicinales très intéressantes. À cet effet nous avons conçu et synthétisé de nouvelles molécules hybrides cromakalim-diazoxide et diazoxide-amine/aminoacide. Nous avons également, évalué l’activité myorelaxante de ces composés sur l’aorte de rates. Les résultats obtenus ne montrent pas un effet myorelaxant significatif. Des études sur d’autres tissus, notamment les cellules β pancréatiques et le muscle utérin, sont envisagées afin d’explorer une éventuelle sélectivité tissulaire. Par ailleurs, les interactions protéine-protéine jouent un rôle fondamental dans presque tous les processus cellulaires. Elles sont fortement impliquées dans la formation de la structure dimérique de la protéase du VIH-1 et l’agrégation du peptide β amyloïde impliquée dans la maladie d’Alzheimer. L’inhibition de ces interactions serait donc d’un avantage thérapeutique pour le traitement du SIDA et de la maladie d’Alzheimer. Nous avons conçu et synthétisé d’une part, des pinces moléculaires à base de motifs carbonylhydrazides et oligohydrazides (Azatide), et d’autre part, des molécules pentapeptidiques avec un peudoaminoacide central alcoolfluoré. Enfin, nous avons testé la capacité des pinces moléculaires à perturber le feuillet β terminal de la PR du VIH-1 afin d'inhiber sa dimérisation et donc son activité. Nous avons réalisé de même une étude de relation structure-activité et d’après l’ensemble des résultats obtenus, il semblerait que la flexibilité est délétère pour l’activité inhibitrice. Nous avons également évalué la capacité des nouvelles molécules peptidomimétiques alcool fluorées à accélérer ou inhiber l’agrégation du peptide Aβ1-42 dans le but de diminuer la présence de petits oligomères neurotoxiques. Les résultats obtenus sont très prometteurs, nous avons réussi à développer d’une part un pentapeptide capable d’inhiber totalement l’agrégation de Aβ1-42, et d’autre part des pseudopentapeptides capables d’accélérer son agrégation. Nous avons aussi démontré l’influence de l’atome de fluor sur la structuration d’un pentapeptide. Des études par RMN et DC sont en cours. / ATP-sensitive potassium channels (KATP) play an important role in many cellular processes. The modulation of these channels by activating molecules may constitute very interesting pharmacological and medicinal applications. For this purpose, we have designed and synthesized new hybrid molecules cromakalim-diazoxide and diazoxide-amine/aminoacid. We also evaluated the relaxant activity of these compounds on aorta of rats. The obtained results do not show a significant relaxant effect. Studies on other tissues, including pancreatic  cells and uterine muscle, are envisaged to explore the potency of these compounds and their possible tissue selectivity.Otherwise, Protein-protein interactions play a fundamental role in almost all cellular processes. They are strongly involved in the formation of the dimeric structure of HIV-1 protease and β amyloid peptide aggregation involved in Alzheimer's disease. Inhibition of these interactions would be a therapeutic advantage for the treatment of AIDS and Alzheimer's disease. We designed and synthesized on one hand, molecular tongs based on carbonylhydrazide oligohydrazid (Azatide) fragments and in the other hand, pentapeptide molecules with a central fluorinated and hydroxylated aminoacid. Finally, we tested the ability of molecular tongs to disrupt the terminal β sheet of the HIV-1 PR to inhibit its dimerization and thus its activity. We have also conducted a structure-activity relationship study and According to the results it seems that flexibility is detrimental to the inhibitory activity. We evaluated as well the ability of new fluorinated and hydroxylated peptidomimetics to accelerate or inhibit the aggregation of Aβ1-42 peptide in order to reduce the presence of small toxic oligomers. The results are very promising that we succeeded in developing a pentapeptide able to completely inhibit the aggregation of Aβ1-42, and in the other hand pseudopentapeptides able to accelerate its aggregation. We also demonstrated the influence of fluorine on the structure of a pentapeptides. Studies by NMR and DC are in progress.

Les études présentées dans le cadre de cette thèse visent à copolymériser l'ԑ-caprolactame (CL) avec différents dérivés de l'α-amino-ԑ-caprolactame (qui possèdent une amine primaire fonctionnalisable) par polymérisation anionique par ouverture de cycle. En utilisant cette stratégie, nous décrivons; (i) la préparation de polyamides 6 fluorés thermiquement plus stables, et ayant une surface hydrophobe; (ii) la synthèse de polyamides 6 portant des groupes pendants cinnamoyl thermo et photosensibles. Une réticulation réversible est observée ainsi que l'amélioration des propriétés thermo-mécaniques; (iii) la copolymérisation anionique par ouverture de cycle de CL avec un bis-monomère issu de l'α-amino-ԑ-caprolactame comme contrôle de la réticulation du polyamide 6. Enfin, dans le cadre de notre intérêt continu pour la chimie du polyamide 6, nous avons mis en évidence la possible combinaison de la polymérisation anionique par ouverture de cycle de CL avec la polycondensation en chaîne de l'éthyl-4-butylaminobenzoate pour obtenir en une étape un polyamide aliphatique/aromatique / The studies presented in this thesis aim to copolymerize ԑ-caprolactam (CL) with different derivatives of α-amino-ԑ-caprolactam (which has a functionalizable primary amine) via anionic ring-opening polymerization. By using this strategy, we describe: (i) the synthesis of thermally more stable fluorinated polyamide 6 having a hydrophobic surface; (ii) the synthesis of polyamides 6 bearing pendant cinnamoyl groups, which are thermo-and photoresponsivechromophore groups, and demonstrating their reversible crosslinking as well as improved thermo-mechanical properties; (iii) the copolymerization ofCL with a crosslinker (N-functionalized α-amino-ԑ-caprolactambis-monomers) into crosslinked polyamides 6.As part of our continuing interest in polyamide 6 chemistry, we developed the combination of anionic ring-opening polymerization of CL and chain-growth condensation polymerization of ethyl 4-butylaminobenzoate in order to obtain aliphatic/aromatic polyamides in one-step.

Proteins have an indispensable role in the cell. They carry out a wide variety of structural, catalytic and signaling functions in all known biological systems. To perform their biological functions, proteins establish interactions with other bioorganic molecules including other proteins. Therefore, protein-protein interactions is one of the central topics in molecular biology. My thesis is devoted to three different topics in the field of protein-protein interactions. The first one focuses on solvent contribution to protein interfaces as it is an important component of protein complexes. The second topic discloses the structural and functional potential of fluorine's unique properties, which are attractive for protein design and engineering not feasible within the scope of canonical amino acids. The last part of this thesis is a study of the impact of charged amino acid residues within the hydrophobic interface of a coiled-coil system, which is one of the well-established model systems for protein-protein interactions studies. I. The majority of proteins interact in vivo in solution, thus studies of solvent impact on protein-protein interactions could be crucial for understanding many processes in the cell. However, though solvent is known to be very important for protein-protein interactions in terms of structure, dynamics and energetics, its effects are often disregarded in computational studies because a detailed solvent description requires complex and computationally demanding approaches. As a consequence, many protein residues, which establish water-mediated interactions, are neither considered in an interface definition. In the previous work carried out in our group the protein interfaces database (SCOWLP) has been developed. This database takes into account interfacial solvent and based on this classifies all interfacial protein residues of the PDB into three classes based on their interacting properties: dry (direct interaction), dual (direct and water-mediated interactions), and wet spots (residues interacting only through one water molecule). To define an interaction SCOWLP considers a donor–acceptor distance for hydrogen bonds of 3.2 Å, for salt bridges of 4 Å, and for van der Waals contacts the sum of the van der Waals radii of the interacting atoms. In previous studies of the group, statistical analysis of a non-redundant protein structure dataset showed that 40.1% of the interfacial residues participate in water-mediated interactions, and that 14.5% of the total residues in interfaces are wet spots. Moreover, wet spots have been shown to display similar characteristics to residues contacting water molecules in cores or cavities of proteins. The goals of this part of the thesis were: 1. to characterize the impact of solvent in protein-protein interactions 2. to elucidate possible effects of solvent inclusion into the correlated mutations approach for protein contacts prediction To study solvent impact on protein interfaces a molecular dynamics (MD) approach has been used. This part of the work is elaborated in section 2.1 of this thesis. We have characterized properties of water-mediated protein interactions at residue and solvent level. For this purpose, an MD analysis of 17 representative complexes from SH3 and immunoglobulin protein families has been performed. We have shown that the interfacial residues interacting through a single water molecule (wet spots) are energetically and dynamically very similar to other interfacial residues. At the same time, water molecules mediating protein interactions have been found to be significantly less mobile than surface solvent in terms of residence time. Calculated free energies indicate that these water molecules should significantly affect formation and stability of a protein-protein complex. The results obtained in this part of the work also suggest that water molecules in protein interfaces contribute to the conservation of protein interactions by allowing more sequence variability in the interacting partners, which has important implications for the use of the correlated mutations concept in protein interactions studies. This concept is based on the assumption that interacting protein residues co-evolve, so that a mutation in one of the interacting counterparts is compensated by a mutation in the other. The study presented in section 2.2 has been carried out to prove that an explicit introduction of solvent into the correlated mutations concept indeed yields qualitative improvement of existing approaches. For this, we have used the data on interfacial solvent obtained from the SCOWLP database (the whole PDB) to construct a “wet” similarity matrix. This matrix has been used for prediction of protein contacts together with a well-established “dry” matrix. We have analyzed two datasets containing 50 domains and 10 domain pairs, and have compared the results obtained by using several combinations of both “dry” and “wet” matrices. We have found that for predictions for both intra- and interdomain contacts the introduction of a combination of a “dry” and a “wet” similarity matrix improves the predictions in comparison to the “dry” one alone. Our analysis opens up the idea that the consideration of water may have an impact on the improvement of the contact predictions obtained by correlated mutations approaches. There are two principally novel aspects in this study in the context of the used correlated mutations methodology : i) the first introduction of solvent explicitly into the correlated mutations approach; ii) the use of the definition of protein-protein interfaces, which is essentially different from many other works in the field because of taking into account physico-chemical properties of amino acids and not being exclusively based on distance cut-offs. II. The second part of the thesis is focused on properties of fluorinated amino acids in protein environments. In general, non-canonical amino acids with newly designed side-chain functionalities are powerful tools that can be used to improve structural, catalytic, kinetic and thermodynamic properties of peptides and proteins, which otherwise are not feasible within the use of canonical amino acids. In this context fluorinated amino acids have increasingly gained in importance in protein chemistry because of fluorine's unique properties: high electronegativity and a small atomic size. Despite the wide use of fluorine in drug design, properties of fluorine in protein environments have not been yet extensively studied. The aims of this part of the dissertation were: 1. to analyze the basic properties of fluorinated amino acids such as electrostatic and geometric characteristics, hydrogen bonding abilities, hydration properties and conformational preferences (section 3.1) 2. to describe the behavior of fluorinated amino acids in systems emulating protein environments (section 3.2, section 3.3) First, to characterize fluorinated amino acids side chains we have used fluorinated ethane derivatives as their simplified models and applied a quantum mechanics approach. Properties such as charge distribution, dipole moments, volumes and size of the fluoromethylated groups within the model have been characterized. Hydrogen bonding properties of these groups have been compared with the groups typically presented in natural protein environments. We have shown that hydrogen and fluorine atoms within these fluoromethylated groups are weak hydrogen bond donors and acceptors. Nevertheless they should not be disregarded for applications in protein engineering. Then, we have implemented four fluorinated L-amino acids for the AMBER force field and characterized their conformational and hydration properties at the MD level. We have found that hydrophobicity of fluorinated side chains grows with the number of fluorine atoms and could be explained in terms of high electronegativity of fluorine atoms and spacial demand of fluorinated side-chains. These data on hydration agrees with the results obtained in the experimental work performed by our collaborators. We have rationally engineered systems that allow us to study fluorine properties and extract results that could be extrapolated to proteins. For this, we have emulated protein environments by introducing fluorinated amino acids into a parallel coiled-coil and enzyme-ligand chymotrypsin systems. The results on fluorination effect on coiled-coil dimerization and substrate affinities in the chymotrypsin active site obtained by MD, molecular docking and free energy calculations are in strong agreement with experimental data obtained by our collaborators. In particular, we have shown that fluorine content and position of fluorination can considerably change the polarity and steric properties of an amino acid side chain and, thus, can influence the properties that a fluorinated amino acid reveals within a native protein environment. III. Coiled-coils typically consist of two to five right-handed α-helices that wrap around each other to form a left-handed superhelix. The interface of two α-helices is usually represented by hydrophobic residues. However, the analysis of protein databases revealed that in natural occurring proteins up to 20% of these positions are populated by polar and charged residues. The impact of these residues on stability of coiled-coil system is not clear. MD simulations together with free energy calculations have been utilized to estimate favourable interaction partners for uncommon amino acids within the hydrophobic core of coiled-coils (Chapter 4). Based on these data, the best hits among binding partners for one strand of a coiled-coil bearing a charged amino acid in a central hydrophobic core position have been selected. Computational data have been in agreement with the results obtained by our collaborators, who applied phage display technology and CD spectroscopy. This combination of theoretical and experimental approaches allowed to get a deeper insight into the stability of the coiled-coil system. To conclude, this thesis widens existing concepts of protein structural biology in three areas of its current importance. We expand on the role of solvent in protein interfaces, which contributes to the knowledge of physico-chemical properties underlying protein-protein interactions. We develop a deeper insight into the understanding of the fluorine's impact upon its introduction into protein environments, which may assist in exploiting the full potential of fluorine's unique properties for applications in the field of protein engineering and drug design. Finally we investigate the mechanisms underlying coiled-coil system folding. The results presented in the thesis are of definite importance for possible applications (e.g. introduction of solvent explicitly into the scoring function) into protein folding, docking and rational design methods. The dissertation consists of four chapters: ● Chapter 1 contains an introduction to the topic of protein-protein interactions including basic concepts and an overview of the present state of research in the field. ● Chapter 2 focuses on the studies of the role of solvent in protein interfaces. ● Chapter 3 is devoted to the work on fluorinated amino acids in protein environments. ● Chapter 4 describes the study of coiled-coils folding properties. The experimental parts presented in Chapters 3 and 4 of this thesis have been performed by our collaborators at FU Berlin. Sections 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2 and Chapter 4 have been submitted/published in peer-reviewed international journals. Their organization follows a standard research article structure: Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results and discussion, and Conclusions. Section 3.3, though not published yet, is also organized in the same way. The literature references are summed up together at the end of the thesis to avoid redundancy within different chapters.