This thesis deals with secondary interactions in asymmetric catalysis and their impact on the outcome of catalytic reactions. The first part revolves around the metal-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation reaction and how interactions within the catalyst affect the stereochemistry. An OH–Pd hydrogen bond in Pd(0)–π-olefin complexes of hydroxy-containing oxazoline ligands was identified by density functional theory computations and helped to rationalize the contrasting results obtained employing hydroxy- and methoxy-containing ligands in the catalytic reaction. This type of hydrogen bond was further studied in phenanthroline metal complexes. As expected for a hydrogen bond, the strength of the bond was found to increase with increased electron density at the metal and with increased acidity of the hydroxy protons. The second part deals with the use of hydroxy- and methoxy-containing phosphinooxazoline ligands in the rhodium- and iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrosilylation reaction. The enantioselectivities obtained were profoundly enhanced upon the addition of silver salts. This phenomenon was explained by an oxygen–metal coordination in the catalytic complexes, which was confirmed by NMR studies of an iridium complex. Interestingly, the rhodium and iridium catalysts nearly serve as pseudo-enantiomers giving products with different absolute configurations. The final part deals with ditopic pyridinobisoxazoline ligands and the application of their metal complexes in asymmetric cyanation reactions. Upon complexation, these ligands provide catalysts with both Lewis acidic and Lewis basic sites, capable of activating both the substrate and the cyanation reagent. Lanthanide and aluminum complexes of these ligands were found to catalyze the addition of the fairly unreactive cyanation reagents ethyl cyanoformate and acetyl cyanide to benzaldehyde, whereas complexes of ligands lacking the Lewis basic coordination sites failed to do so. / QC 20100709

This thesis is divided into four separate parts with amino alcohols as the common feature. The first part of the thesis describes the development of an efficient three-component approach to the synthesis of α-hydroxy-β-amino esters. Utilizing a highly diastereoselective Rh(II)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of carbonyl ylides to various aldimines, syn-α-hydroxy-β-amino esters are formed in high yields and excellent diastereoselectivities. An asymmetric version was also developed by employing chiral α-methylbenzyl imines as dipolarophiles yielding enantiomerically pure syn-α-hydroxy-β-amino esters. This methodology was also applied on a short asymmetric synthesis of the paclitaxel side-chain as well as in an asymmetric synthetic approach towards the proteasome inhibitor omuralide. Furthermore, the use of chiral Rh(II) carboxylates furnishes the syn-α-hydroxy-β-amino esters in moderate enantioselectivity (er up to 82:18), which indicates that the reaction proceeds via a metal-associated carbonyl ylide. The second part describes the development of a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of azomethine ylides to aldehydes for the synthesis of α-amino-β-hydroxy esters. Different methods for the generation of the ylides, including Vedejs’ oxazole methology and an Ag(I)/phosphine-catalyzed approach have been evaluated. The best results were obtained with the Ag(I)/phosphine approach, which yielded the desired α-amino-β-hydroxy ester in 68% yield and 3.4:1 syn:anti-selectivity. The last two parts deals with the total synthesis of the amino alcohol-containing natural products D-erythro-sphingosine and (−)-stemoamide. The key transformation in the sphingosine synthesis is a cross-metathesis reaction for the assembly of the polar head group and the aliphatic chain. In the stemoamide synthesis, the key feature is an iodoboration/Negishi/RCM-sequence for the construction of the β,γ-unsaturated azepine core of stemoamide followed by a stereoselective bromolactonization/1,4-reduction strategy for the installation of the requisite C8-C9 trans-stereochemistry. / QC 20100820

Pine weevils cause major damage to newly planted conifer seedlings in reforestation areas. However, recent findings indicate that small (“mini”) seedlings, planted at the age of 7-10 weeks, are gnawed less by pine weevils than the larger, conventionally planted seedlings. Thus, it has been proposed that planting young conifer seedlings in clear-cut areas may reduce the damage caused by pine weevils. In attempts to determine why mini seedlings appear to be less damaged by pine weevils than “conventional” seedlings, the volatiles released by Norway spruce and Scots pine mini seedlings were investigated, since such chemicals are of great importance in herbivore-plant communication, inter alia acting as repellents, attractants or antifeedants. Volatiles from the seedlings were collected, separated and identified by solid phase microextraction (SPME) followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results show that there are high levels of chemodiversity among both spruce and pine seedlings. Between-tissue and age-related variations in their emissions were also found. Norway spruce clones infested by mites were also examined to assess genotype- and pest-specific stress reactions of Norway spruce. Finally, the effects of certain spruce defense compounds on the behavior of the large pine weevil Hylobius abietis were examined. / QC 20100818

This thesis deals with the development and application of new synthetic methodology for stereo- or regioselective construction of carbon-carbon bonds in organic synthesis. The first part of this thesis describes the development of a divergent protocol for stereoselective synthesis of chiral aminodiols by employing Mukaiyama aldol additions to syn- and anti-α-amino-β-silyloxy aldehydes. The stereoselectivity of the nucleophilic attack is governed by either chelation to the α-amino moiety or by nucleophilic attack in the Felkin-Anh sense. This study is also directed towards the elucidation of the factors that dictate aldehyde π-facial selectivity in substrate-controlled nucleophilic additions to these and similar systems. In the second part, a highly stereoselective [3 + 2]-annulation reaction of N-Ts-α-amino aldehydes and 1,3-bis(silyl)propenes for stereoselective construction of densely functionalized pyrrolidines is presented. In addition, this methodology is also implemented as a keystep in a synthetic approach towards the polyhydroxylated pyrrolidine and pyrrolizidine alkaloids DGDP and (+)-alexine from a common late pyrrolidine intermediate. Finally, a divergent protocol for regioselective opening of vinyl epoxides using alkyne nucleophiles is described, in which the regioselectivity of the nucleophilic attack is controlled by the choice of reaction conditions. The regioselectivities of the SN2 and SN2’ processes are, however, significantly influenced by the nature of the alkyne substituents and the best results are obtained using ethoxyacetylene. The SN2 opening of vinyl epoxides with ethoxyacetylene as nucleophile is also shown to provide a straightforward entry to functionalized γ-butyrolactones. / QC 20100917

The thesis describes the realization of an asymmetric [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of achiral allylic amines. It is divided into two parts; the first part deals with the development of a Lewis acid-mediated [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement and the second the asymmetric version thereof. Quaternization of an -amino amide with various Lewis acids established BBr3 and BF3 to be the most appropriate ones. Various allylic amines were subsequently rearranged into the corresponding homoallylic amines in good to excellent syn-diastereoselectivities, revealing the endo-transition state to be the preferred pathway. The structures of the intermediate Lewis acid-amine complexes were confirmed by NMR spectroscopy studies and DFT calculations. Based on this investigation a chiral diazaborolidine was chosen as Lewis acid and was shown to efficiently promote the asymmetric [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement furnishing homoallylic amines in good yields and excellent enantiomeric excesses. In contrast to the achiral rearrangement mediated by BBr3 and BF3, the asymmetric version gave the opposite major diastereomer, revealing a preference for the exo-transition state in the asymmetric rearrangement. To account for the observed selectivities, a kinetic and thermodynamic pathway was presented. On the basis of a deuterium exchange experiment on a rearranged Lewis acid-amine complex and an NMR spectroscopic investigation, the kinetic pathway was shown to be favored. / QC 20100927

In this thesis, carbohydrate mimicry is investigated through the syntheses of carbohydrate analogues and evaluation of their inhibitory effects on carbohydrate-processing enzymes. Galactofuranosides are interesting structures because they are common motifs in pathogenic microorganisms but not found in mammals. M.tuberculosis, responsible for the disease tuberculosis, has a cell wall containing a repeating unit of alternating (1→5)- and (1→6)-linked β-D-galactofuranosyl residues. Synthetic inhibitors of the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of the cell wall could find great therapeutic use. The first part of this thesis describes the first synthesis of the hydrolytically stable carbasugar analogue of galactofuranose, 4a-carba-β-D-Galf, and the synthetic work of synthesising β-linked pseudodisaccharides containing carba-Galf, which were tested for glycosyltransferease inhibitory activity. The pseudodisaccharide carba-Galf-(β1→5)-carba-Galf was found to be a moderate inhibitor of the glycosyltransferase GlfT2 of M.tuberculosis. The thesis also describes how a general method towards biologically relevant α-linked carba-Galf ethers was developed. The final part of this thesis is focussed on the formation of nitrogen-linked monosaccharides without the participation of the anomeric centre. Such a mode of coupling is called tail-to-tail neodisaccharide formation. The couplings of carbohydrate derivatives via the Mitsunobu reaction are successfully reported herein. The method describes the key introduction of an allylic alcohol in the electrophile and the subsequent functionalisation of the alkene to obtain the neodisaccharide. Two synthesised neodisaccharides presented in this thesis have been sent to be tested for glycosidase inhibitory activity. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript. Paper 6: Manuscript.

The large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis L., is a major insect pest on conifer seedlings in northern Europe. Due to its feeding newly planted trees get girdled, resulting in high seedling mortality (up to 80%). As a consequence great financial losses to the forest industry occur. Today the seedlings are protected with the pyrethroid insecticide cypermethrin. This insecticide is toxic to aquatic organisms and is, from 2010, prohibited for use in Sweden by the Swedish Chemicals Inspectorate. An alternative to insecticides is to protect the seedlings with antifeedants, compounds that, either through taste or smell or both, deter the weevils from feeding. This thesis describes the search for and the synthesis of such antifeedant compounds. Bark extracts of several woody species, known to be non-palatable to the weevil, were prepared and found to display antifeedant activity against H. abietis. The major chemical constituents of the extracts were tested for antifeedant activity. Antifeedants such as eugenol, 2-phenylethanol and benzylalcohol, but also feeding stimulants such as β-sitosterol and linoleic acid, were identified. An extract of linden bark, Tilia cordata, was shown to contain nonanoic acid, a highly active antifeedant. Other aliphatic carboxylic acids were also found to display high antifeedant activities against the weevil, both in laboratory and in field tests. The enantiomers of dihydropinidine, a piperidine alkaloid present in several conifer species, were prepared by dimethylzinc mediated allylation of 2- methyltetrahydropyridine-N-oxide. When tested in micro feeding assays, no difference in antifeedant activity was found for the enantiomers. In a field test high antifeedant activity, comparable with that of the presently used insecticide cypermethrin, was found for (±)-dihydropindine. Other naturally occurring piperidine alkaloids were synthesised and also found to display high antifeedant activities in laboratory tests. Structure-activity relationships were evaluated for methoxy substituted benzaldehydes, benzoic acids and cinnamic aldehydes, -acids, -esters and -alcohols. While the carboxylic acids were inactive or even feeding stimulants, the aldehydes were the most active antifeedants / QC 20110124

<p>The large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis L., is a major insect pest on conifer seedlings in northern Europe. Due to its feeding newly planted trees get girdled, resulting in high seedling mortality (up to 80%). As a consequence great financial losses to the forest industry occur. Today the seedlings are protected with the pyrethroid insecticide cypermethrin. This insecticide is toxic to aquatic organisms and is, from 2010, prohibited for use in Sweden by the Swedish Chemicals Inspectorate. An alternative to insecticides is to protect the seedlings with antifeedants, compounds that, either through taste or smell or both, deter the weevils from feeding. This thesis describes the search for and the synthesis of such antifeedant compounds.</p><p>Bark extracts of several woody species, known to be non-palatable to the weevil, were prepared and found to display antifeedant activity against H. abietis. The major chemical constituents of the extracts were tested for antifeedant activity. Antifeedants such as eugenol, 2-phenylethanol and benzylalcohol, but also feeding stimulants such as β-sitosterol and linoleic acid, were identified. An extract of linden bark, Tilia cordata, was shown to contain nonanoic acid, a highly active antifeedant. Other aliphatic carboxylic acids were also found to display high antifeedant activities against the weevil, both in laboratory and in field tests.</p><p>The enantiomers of dihydropinidine, a piperidine alkaloid present in several conifer species, were prepared by dimethylzinc mediated allylation of 2- methyltetrahydropyridine-N-oxide. When tested in micro feeding assays, no difference in antifeedant activity was found for the enantiomers. In a field test high antifeedant activity, comparable with that of the presently used insecticide cypermethrin, was found for (±)-dihydropindine. Other naturally occurring piperidine alkaloids were synthesised and also found to display high antifeedant activities in laboratory tests.</p><p>Structure-activity relationships were evaluated for methoxy substituted benzaldehydes, benzoic acids and cinnamic aldehydes, -acids, -esters and -alcohols. While the carboxylic acids were inactive or even feeding stimulants, the aldehydes were the most active antifeedants</p>

This thesis presents a number of studies, where a multivariate approach was taken to construct models that predict wood species and thermo mechanical pulp brightness from roundwood of Norway spruce and Scots pine. The first and second studies produced multivariate prediction models for wood species from the bark of spruce and pine. These models can be used for wood species classification and would replace the manual log assessment that takes place today. Principal Component Analysis, PCA, and Partial least squares projections to Latent Structures, PLS, were used to predict the wood species from multivariate measurements recorded from the bark of spruce and pine. Two different kinds of measurements were employed, near-infrared spectroscopy and digital imaging. Both methods showed that it was possible to predict the wood species with a high accuracy. The third and fourth studies of the thesis are related to the wood storage of roundwood and the deterioration of wood that occurs during the storage. The third study used an experimental design with five storage factors that provided different conditions for the analysed wood. The experimental design made it possible to identify the factors and the interaction between factors, which were important for the ISO brightness of peroxide and dithionite bleached thermo mechanical pulp, TMP. The final study of the thesis used NIR spectroscopy for predicting the ISO brightness of bleached TMP. Spectra recorded from stored wood were used to construct PLS prediction models.

New techniques and approaches for organic synthesis, purification and biological testing are enabling pharmaceutical industries to produce and test increasing numbers of compounds every year. Surprisingly, this has not led to more new drugs reaching the market, prompting two questions – why is there not a better correlation between their efforts and output, and can it be improved? One possible way to make the drug discovery process more efficient is to ensure, at an early stage, that the tested compounds are diverse, representative and of high quality. In addition the biological evaluation systems have to be relevant and reliable. The diversity of the tested compounds could be ensured and the reliability of the biological assays improved by using Design Of Experiments (DOE) more frequently and effectively. However, DOE currently offers insufficient options for these purposes, so there is a need for new, tailor-made DOE strategies. The aim of the work underlying this thesis was to develop and evaluate DOE approaches for diverse compound selection and efficient assay optimisation. This resulted in the publication of two new DOE strategies; D-optimal Onion Design (DOOD) and Rectangular Experimental Designs for Multi-Unit Platforms (RED-MUP), both of which are extensions to established experimental designs. D-Optimal Onion Design (DOOD) is an extension to D-optimal design. The set of possible objects that could be selected is divided into layers and D-optimal selection is applied to each layer. DOOD enables model-based, but not model-dependent, selections in discrete spaces to be made, since the selections are not only based on the D-optimality criterion, but are also biased by the experimenter’s prior knowledge and specific needs. Hence, DOOD selections provide controlled diversity. Assay development and optimisation can be a major bottleneck restricting the progress of a project. Although DOE is a recognised tool for optimising experimental systems, there has been widespread unwillingness to use it for assay optimisation, mostly because of the difficulties involved in performing experiments according to designs in 96-, 384- and 1536- well formats. The RED-MUP framework combines classical experimental designs orthogonally onto rectangular experimental platforms, which facilitates the execution of DOE on these platforms and hence provides an efficient tool for assay optimisation. In combination, these two strategies can help uncovering the crossroads between biology and chemistry in drug discovery as well as lead to higher information content in the data received from biological evaluations, providing essential information for well-grounded decisions as to the future of the project. These two strategies can also help researchers identify the best routes to take at the crossroads linking biological and chemical elements of drug discovery programs.