M.Sc. / The main objective of this project was to synthesize carbohydrates that contain a thiol functional group, commonly known as thiocarbohydrates and subsequently employ them as stabilizing agents in the synthesis of gold nanoparticles and as ligands in the synthesis of phosphine thiocarbohydrate gold(I) complexes. In achieving our objective, thiocarbohydrate compounds 62, 64, 69 and 71 were successfully synthesized from acetylated 60 or benzylated glucal 66 using a Ferrier rearrangement reaction. NaHSO4-SiO2 was used as a catalyst for Ferrier rearrangement reaction in the presence of dithiol type nucleophiles (i.e. 1,2-dithiol ethane or 1,5-dithiol pentane) to afford the desired thiocarbohydrate compounds. The S-acetate derivatives 63, 65, 70 and 72 of the corresponding thiocarbohydrates were prepared as a confirmatory test for the presence of the terminal thiol (SH) in the thiocarbohydrate compounds. C-2 modified thiocarbohydrate compounds 78 and 80 were synthesized from C-2 iodomethyl glycoside 77 following a literature reported procedure in the presence of 1,2-dithiol ethane or 1,5-dithiol pentane as nucleophiles. S-acetate derivatives 79 and 81 of the corresponding thiocarbohydrate compounds were synthesized again to confirm the presence of the terminal thiol (SH). All the thiocarbohydrate compounds and their corresponding S-acetate derivatives were characterized with NMR spectroscopy and HRMS. Ethyl thiocarbohydrate compounds 62, 69 and 78 were successfully employed as stabilizing agents in the preparation of gold nanoparticles GNP1-GNP9 following a Brust-Schiffrin procedure. UV-Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize these gold nanoparticles. Phosphine thiocarbohydrate gold(I) complexes 84-94 were synthesized from selected thiocarbohydrate compounds. NMR spectroscopy and HRMS were used to characterize these gold(I) complexes. Having synthesized the target thiocarbohydrate compounds, gold nanoparticles and gold(I) complexes, our aim was to investigate their biological activity against cancer and HIV. However, the biological testing process took considerably longer and as a result this dissertation was submitted without the biological tests results.

M.Sc. (Chemistry) / Inhibition of mycothiol biosynthesis pathway has attracted attention from chemists and biochemists who aim to develop novel anti-TB drugs. A possible route to inhibit the production of mycothiol in cells may be via the inhibition of enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathways. Molecular analogues that mimic mycothiol and containing tetrahedral-forming functional groups have been reported to show activity against mycothiol biosynthesis by inhibiting the enzymes in the mycothiol biosynthetic pathway...