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Antibiotic resistance has become and will continue to be a major medical issue of the 21st century. If not addressed, the potential for a post-antibiotic era could become a reality, one that the world has not been familiar with since the early 1900’s. Multidrug-resistant hospital-acquired bacterial infections already account for close to 2 million cases and 23,000 deaths in the United States, along with 20 billion dollars of additional medical spending each year. The CDC released a report in 2013 regarding the seriousness of antibiotic resistance and providing a snapshot of costs and mortality rates of the most serious antibiotic resistant bacteria, which includes 17 drug resistant bacteria, such as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus and Staphylococcus aureus, and multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The development of antibiotic resistance is part of bacteria’s normal evolutionary process and thus impossible to completely stop. To ensure a future where resistant bacteria do not run rampant throughout society, there is a great need for new antibiotics and accordingly, methods to facilitate their discovery Macrolides are a class of antibiotics that target the bacterial ribosome. Since their discovery in the 1950’s medicinal chemistry has created semi-synthetic analogues of natural product macrolides to address poor pharmacokinetics and resistance. Modern X-Ray crystallography has allowed the chemist access to high resolution images of the bacterial ribosome bound to antibiotics including macrolides which has ushered in an era of structure-based design of novel antibiotics. These crystal structures suggest that the C-4 methyl group of third generation ketolide antibiotic telithromycin can sterically clash with a mutated rRNA residue causing loss of binding and providing a structural basis for resistance. The Andrade lab hypothesized that the replacement of this methyl group with hydrogen would alleviate the steric clash and allow the antibiotic to retain activity. To this end, the Andrade lab set out on a synthetic program to synthesize four desmethyl analogues of telithromycin by total synthesis that would directly test the steric clash hypothesis and also provide structure-activity relationships about these methyl groups which have not been assessed in the past. Following will contain highlights of the total synthesis of (-)-4,8,10-didesmethyl telithromycin, (-)-4,10-didesmethyl telithromycin, and (-)-4,8-desmethyl telithromycin and my journey toward the total synthesis of (-)-4-desmethyl telithromycin Traditional combinatorial chemistry uses chemical synthesis to make all possible molecules from various fragments. These molecules then need to be purified, characterized, and tested against the biological target of interest. While high-throughput assay technologies (i.e., automation) has streamlined this process to some extent, the process remains expensive when considering the costs of labor, reagents, and solvent to synthesize, purify, and characterize all library members. Unlike traditional combinatorial chemistry, in situ click chemistry directly employs the macromolecular target to template and synthesize its own inhibitor. In situ click chemistry makes use of the Huisgen cycloaddition of alkyne and azides to form 1,2,3-triazoles, which normally reacts slowly at room temperature in the absence of a catalyst. If azide and alkyne pairs can come together in a target binding pocket the activation energy of the reaction can be lowered and products detected by LC-MS. Compounds found in this way generally show tighter binding than the individual fragments. Described in the second part of this dissertation is the development of the first in situ click methodology targeting the bacterial ribosome. Using the triazole containing third generation ketolide solithromycin as a template we were able to successfully show that in situ click chemistry was able to predict the tightest binding compounds. / Chemistry

2-Pyridones are known to undergo a facile [4+4] photocycloaddition with themselves and other conjugated molecules. These transformations provide an access to complex molecular structures such as highly substituted cyclooctanoid derivatives, which normally represent a significant synthetic challenge. Moreover, the 2-pyridone photoadducts can be further elaborated into various biologically relevant products. The work presented here broadens the horizons of the [4+4] photocycloaddition in two distinct directions: 1) by utilizing [4+4] photocycloaddition in a total synthesis of crinipellin natural products possessing antibiotic and antitumor activity and 2) by developing a novel type of [4+4] photocycloaddition that employs a conjugated enyne as a partner of 2- pyridone. Our approach to the tetraquinane core of the crinipellins features intramolecular [4+4] photocycloaddition of a tethered furan-pyridone molecule followed by a four-step transannular ring closure. The sequence allows for a rapid assembly of a molecular framework by installing 19 of the 20 required carbon atoms and all but two stereogenic centers. The described synthesis represents an interesting new approach to these polycyclic molecules and a way to access crinipellin analogues. The enyne-pyridone [4+4] photocycloaddition led to formation of intriguing 1,2,5-cyclooctatriene-based products. Presence of the allene functionality was used as a lever in exploring the possibilities for derivatization of these photoadducts. Our investigations of enyne-pyridone photocycloaddition have come a long way: from the first proof-of-concept intermolecular trials producing complex mixtures, through the initial investigations of the intramolecular variant that taught us how to direct the reaction to the necessary mode ([2+2] vs. [4+4] photocycloaddition), and eventually to the controlled formation of stable allenic photoadducts and their further transformation into a diverse set of functionalized molecular scaffolds. We found that the inherent kinetic instability of 1,2,5-cyclooctatrienes facilitates several pathways of strain relief: allene-allene [2+2] dimerization, photooxidative decarbonylation when the irradiation is conducted in presence of air, isomerization of the 1,2-diene fragment into a 1,3-diene and the acid-promoted Cope rearrangement. Additionally, enyne-pyridone photoadducts can undergo transannular ring closure when treated with bromine and also be transformed into valuable bicyclo [5.1.0] octane structures that incorporate a rare example of a stable cyclopropanone by a fast and selective epoxidation-rearrangement process. Several important goals were achieved in the described research study. First, strategic incorporation of [4+4] photocycloaddition as one of the key steps in targeted synthesis of natural products has demonstrated the potential of this powerful reaction. Second, an efficient new approach to a tetraquinane skeleton was developed and successfully executed. Third, the fundamental basis for the novel photochemical transformation (enyne-pyridone cycloaddition) was set and major trends for this reaction were established resulting in obtaining stable allenic photoadducts. Finally, chemical properties and reactivity of stabilized amide-bridged 1,2,5-cyclooctatriene photoproducts were investigated breaking the ground for future involvement of these intermediates in synthetic strategies towards biologically active natural products and their analogues. / Chemistry