Sustainable chemical processes are becoming increasingly important in all fields of synthetic chemistry. Catalysis can play an important role in developing environmentally benign chemical processes, and transition metals have an important role to play in the area of green chemistry. In particular, palladium(II) catalysis includes many key features for successful green chemistry methods, as demonstrated by a number of eco-friendly oxidation reactions catalyzed by palladium(II). The aim of the work presented in this thesis was to develop novel and greener palladium(II)-catalyzed coupling reactions. In striving to achieve this aim, the first open-vessel, room-temperature palladium(II)-catalyzed oxidative Heck reaction, using oxygen from the air as the reoxidant of palladium, was developed. In a further investigation of the palladium(II)-catalyzed oxidative Heck reaction, base-free conditions for the transformation were identified and suitable conditions for microwave-assisted oxidative Heck reactions were established. A convenient and low-cost palladium(II)-catalyzed method for the synthesis of styrene derivatives, by coupling arylboranes with vinyl acetate, was developed. The reaction mechanism was studied using ESI-MS, which enabled the detection of cationic palladium intermediates in ongoing productive reactions, and a plausible catalytic cycle was proposed. In an attempt to make the oxidative Heck and the styrene synthesis reactions more attractive from an industrial point of view, conditions for continuous flow synthesis were identified. The results were generally good and rapid synthesis of the desired products was obtained. The first palladium(II)-catalyzed C–P bond-forming Hirao-type reaction, employing arylboranes instead of the commonly used aryl halides, was developed. An ESI-MS study was performed, and a plausible catalytic pathway was suggested. Finally, a novel method for synthesizing aryl ketones from benzoic acids and nitriles, via palladium(II)-catalyzed decarboxylation of the benzoic acids, was established. Further, the reaction mechanism was studied by ESI-MS and a plausible catalytic route presented.

This thesis describes the use of chiral counter-ions for the enantiomeric separation of amines in non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis. The investigations have been concentrated on studies of the influence, of the chiral counter-ion, the solvent, the electrolyte and the analyte, on the enantioselective separation. Modified divalent dipeptides have been introduced in capillary electrophoresis for the separation of amino alcohols and chiral resolution of amines. Association constants for the ion-pair between dipeptide and amino alcohol could be utilized for development of separation systems with higher amino alcohol selectivity. Chiral discrimination (ion-pair formation) between the dipeptides and amines are preferably generated in non-aqueous background electrolytes (BGEs). The amount of triethylamine in the BGE determined the dipeptide charge and a divalent dipeptide promoted higher enantioselectivity than a monovalent dipeptide. An N-terminal-end blocking group and glutamic acid at the C-terminal-end of the dipeptide was important for chiral separation of the amines. Chemometric and univariate methods have been employed for evaluation of suitable solvent compositions in the BGE. An experimental design including a single solvent as well as binary, ternary and quaternary mixtures of polar organic solvents, showed that optimal enantioresolution was obtained with an ethanol:methanol 80:20 mixture in the BGE.  Furthermore, water was found to have an adverse influence on enantioselectivity and no enantioresolution was obtained with BGEs containing more than 30 % water. An alkali metal hydroxide added to the BGE affected the chiral separation by competing ion-pair formation with the selector. The electroosmosis was reduced in order of decreasing alkali metal ion solvated radius and became anodic using K, Rb or Cs in ethanolic BGEs. The correlation between the amino alcohol structure and the enantioselectivity was investigated using chemometrics. The obtained models showed that enantioselectivity for the amino alcohols was promoted by e.g. degree of substitution and substituent size on the nitrogen.

The blood-brain barrier is formed by tightly joined capillary cells with transporter proteins and acts as to regulate the brain concentration of nutrients as well as many drugs. When developing central nervous system drugs it is necessary to measure the unbound drug concentration in the brain, i.e. the unbound brain exposure. This is to ensure that the drug reaches the site of action. Furthermore, when designing new drugs it is extremely valuable to be able to predict brain exposure from a tentative drug structure. Established methods to measure total drug concentrations are of limited (if any) utility since the pharmacologically active, unbound, concentration is not obtained. The aim of the conducted research was to develop an efficient methodology to measure unbound drug in the brain and to generate a dataset for developing computational prediction models describing the relationship between drug structure and unbound brain exposure. First it was demonstrated that unbound brain exposure can be efficiently assessed using a combination of total drug concentrations in the brain and separate measurements of drug binding in the brain slices. The in vitro brain slice method was refined and made high-throughput. Improvements were also made to the in vivo measurements of total concentrations by introducing an appropriate correction for drug in residual blood. Modeling of a 43-drug dataset in the rat showed that unbound brain exposure is related to the drug hydrogen bonding potential and not to lipid solubility, which contrasts the common understanding. Further, the drug concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid approximated unbound concentrations in the brain (r2=0.80) and were also correlated with corresponding measurements in humans (r2=0.56). Therefore, rat-derived prediction models can be used when designing drugs for humans. This thesis work has provided drug industry and academia with efficient tools to obtain and to use relevant estimates of drug exposure in the brain for evaluating drugs candidates.

A central aim in drug development is to ensure that the new drug is efficacious and safe in the intended patient population. Mathematical models describing the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) properties of a drug are valuable to increase the knowledge about drug effects and disease and can be used to inform decisions. The aim of this thesis was to develop mechanism-based PK-PD-disease models for important safety and efficacy biomarkers used in anti-diabetic drug development. Population PK, PK-PD and disease models were developed, based on data from clinical studies in subjects with varying degrees of renal function, non-diabetic subjects with insulin resistance and patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), receiving a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α/γ agonist, tesaglitazar. The PK model showed that a decreased renal elimination of the metabolite in renally impaired subjects leads to increased levels of metabolite undergoing interconversion and subsequent accumulation of tesaglitazar. Tesaglitazar negatively affects the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and since renal function affects tesaglitazar exposure, a PK-PD model was developed to simultaneously describe this interrelationship. The model and data showed that all patients had decreases in GFR, which were reversible when discontinuing treatment. The PK-PD model described the interplay between fasting plasma glucose (FPG), glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and haemoglobin in T2DM patients. It provided a mechanistically plausible description of the release and aging of red blood cells (RBC), and the glucose dependent glycosylation of RBC to HbA1c. The PK-PD model for FPG and fasting insulin, incorporating components for β-cell mass, insulin sensitivity and impact of disease and drug treatment, realistically described the complex glucose homeostasis in the heterogeneous patient population. The mechanism-based PK, PK-PD and disease models increase the understanding about T2DM and important biomarkers, and can be used to improve decision making in the development of future anti-diabetic drugs.

Early-life experience has profound effects on the individual’s neurobiology and behaviour later in life. The rodent animal experimental model maternal separation (MS) was used to study this more in detail. The MS model involves short and prolonged postnatal separations simulating an emotionally safe and stressful environment, respectively. The aims of the thesis were to examine the impact of individual MS on ethanol consumption and on brain dopamine and serotonin systems in adult male rats. Furthermore, the influence of separation conditions on the short- and long-term consequences of MS on several neurotransmitter systems was examined. Rat pups were assigned to either litter-wise MS for 15 or 360 minutes (MS15l or MS360l) or individual MS for 15 or 360 minutes (MS15i or MS360i). Control rats were subjected to conventional animal facility rearing (AFR). Ethanol intake was assessed in a two-bottle free-choice paradigm. Neuropeptides were analyzed with radioimmunoassay, monoamines and metabolites with electrochemical detection and gene expression with qPCR. Using the MSi paradigm, minor effects on voluntary ethanol consumption were observed. However, the monoaminergic responses elicited by ethanol were dependent on the early-life environment. Furthermore, short- and long-term consequences of MS on serotonin, opioid, oxytocin and vasopressin systems were studied. Multiple neurobiological measurements in one and the same rat offered a unique possibility to examine the effects of duration (MS15 versus MS360) and condition (l versus i) of MS. Time-, region-, sex- and transmitter-specific effects were observed. More pronounced differences were seen in serotonin measures and oxytocin in young rats. In adults these differences in basal levels were normalized. Opioid peptides differed in stress-related brain areas in young rats and in limbic areas in adults. Rats subjected to the MS15l environment that relates to natural conditions generally exhibited a different neurobiological profile than other groups. AFR rats, i.e. conventional control rats, were more similar to the putative most stressful condition MS360. Taken together, the networks examined in the present thesis are important for the establishment of normal social behaviour and derangements in these systems may result in neurobiological changes leading to the susceptibility for psychopathological conditions later in life.

7,8-Linoleate diol synthase (7,8-LDS) of the take-all pathogen of wheat, Gaeumannomyces graminis, converts linoleic acid to 8R-hydroperoxyoctadecadienoic acid (8-HPODE) by 8-dioxygenase activity (8-DOX), and further isomerizes the hydroperoxide to 7S,8S-dihydroxyoctadecadienoic acid (7,8-DiHODE) by hydroperoxide isomerase activity. Sequence alignment showed homology to prostaglandin H synthase (PGHS), and both enzymes share structural and catalytic properties. The 8-DOX of 7,8-LDS was successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris and in insect cells (Sf21). Site-directed mutagenesis confirmed His379 as the proximal heme ligand and Tyr376 as a residue, which forms a tyrosyl radical and initiates catalysis. Furthermore, mutagenesis suggested His203 could be the proposed distal histidine, and Tyr329 of catalytic relevance for substrate positioning at the active site. Aspergilli are ubiquitous environmental fungi. Some species, in particular Aspergillus fumigatus, are responsible for invasive aspergillosis, which is a life-threatening disease for immunocompromised patients. A. fumigatus and A. nidulans metabolized linoleic acid to 8R-HPODE, 10R-hydroperoxyoctadecadienoic acid (10R-HPODE), 5S,8R-dihydroxyoctadecadienoic acid, and 8R,11S-dihydroxyoctadecadienoic acid. When the genomes of certain Aspergilli strains were published, several species showed at least three homologous genes (ppoA, ppoB, ppoC- psi producing oxygenases) to 7,8-LDS and PGHS. Gene deletion identified PpoA as an enzyme with 8-DOX and 5,8-hydroperoxide isomerase activities, designated 5,8-LDS in homology to 7,8-LDS. In the same way, PpoC was identified as a 10-dioxygenase (10-DOX), which converts linoleic acid to 10R-HPODE. 10-DOX differs from LDS, since it dioxygenates linoleic acid at C-10, after hydrogen abstraction at C-8 and double bond migration. 10-DOX was cloned and expressed in insect cells. Leu384 and Val388 were found to be critical for dioxygenation at C-10. Mutation to the homologous residues of 5,8- and 7,8-LDS (Leu384Val, Val388Leu) increased oxygen insertion at C-8. LDS and 10-DOX are fusion proteins with a dioxygenase and a hydroperoxide isomerase (cytochrome P450) domain with a cysteine heme ligand. The P450 domain of 10-DOX lacked the crucial cysteine heme ligand and was without hydroperoxide isomerase activity. LDSs and 10-DOX are newly characterized heme containing fungal dioxygenases, with homology to PGHS of vertebrates. Their metabolites regulate reproduction, development, and act as signal molecules with the host after pathogen attack.

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) family 4 constitutes monoxygenases responsible for hydroxylation of fatty acids and other lipids. For example, CYP4F3 metabolizes leukotrienes and CYP4F8 prostaglandin H. Importantly, six of the twelve CYP4 enzymes are orphans, i.e., with an unknown biological function. The catalytic activity of the enzyme CYP4F8 is known in seminal vesicles, but not in skin or psoriatic lesions, where CYP4F8 is highly expressed. The orphan CYP4F22 is also expressed in skin, and mutations in its gene has been linked to the rare skin disease lamellar ichthyosis, together with, inter alia, mutations in the genes of 12R-LOX and eLOX3. These enzymes appear to constitute a pathway producing hydroperoxides and epoxyalcohols from arachidonic acid. CYP4F22 is hypothesized to act in a consecutive step within this pathway. The aim of this thesis was to develop analytical methods to prepare and analyze hydroperoxides and epoxyalcohols derived from fatty acids by LC-MS/MS, and to investigate the catalytic performance of CYP4F8 and CYP4F22 for these substrates. The 12R-hydroperoxide of arachidonic acid (12R-HPETE) was prepared by autoxidation and separated from other hydroperoxides by chiral HPLC. MS/MS analysis showed that the hydroperoxides were unstable within the ion trap, but were stabilized by an increase in the isolation width. From the hydroperoxides, epoxyalcohols were generated by hematin treatment, and separated by normal phase HPLC. MS/MS spectra of several epoxyalcohols, derived both from arachidonic acid and linoleic acid, were characterized with aid of [2H]isotopomers and MS3 analysis. Apart from metabolic studies the thesis also include detailed information on MS/MS analysis of several oxygenated fatty acids, with proposed fragmentation mechanisms. The open reading frame of CYP4F22 was expressed in a recombinant yeast system, and LC-MS/MS analysis revealed that CYP4F22 catalyzed ω3 hydroxylation of arachidonic acid, but not any of the tested epoxyalcohols. In contrast, CYP4F8 metabolizes an epoxyalcohol derived from 12R-HPETE, 11R,12R-epoxy-10-hydroxyeicosatrienoic acid, to the ω3 hydroxy metabolite. Conclusively, it was demonstrated that LC-MS/MS could be used for the analysis and separation of hydroperoxides and epoxyalcohols for metabolic studies.

Background: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) due to C1-inhibitor deficiency, type I and II, is a rare disease with an estimated prevalence of 1/50,000. Angioedema in the larynx can be life threatening and angioedema in the abdomen and skin can give severe and disabling pain. Data on patients with HAE in Sweden were scarce before our study. Aim: To study the prevalence of HAE, and to investigate clinical manifestations, treatments, and Health-Related Quality of Life (HR-QoL) in adults and children in Sweden. Method: In studies, I and II, all patients received a written questionnaire followed by a phone interview with questions about clinical manifestations, medication, sick leave and QoL. In study III the patients completed EuroQol 5 Dimensions 5 Levels (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaires for both the attack-free state (EQ5D today), and the last HAE attack (EQ5D attack). Questions were also asked about sick-leave. In study IV all adults received questionnaires with EQ-5D-5L and RAND-36, Angioedema Quality of Life instrument (AE-QoL), and Angioedema Activity Score (AAS) form, and questionnaires on sick leave and prophylactic medication. Results: We identified 146 patients, 110 adults and 36 children with HAE, type I (n=136) or II (n=10), giving a minimal HAE prevalence of 1.54/100,000. For adults, the median age at onset of symptoms was 12 years and median age at diagnosis was 22 years. Median age at onset of symptoms for children was 4 years and at diagnosis 3 years. During the previous year, 47% of adults experienced at least 12 attacks, 21% 4-11 attacks, 11% 1-3 attacks, while 22% were asymptomatic. For children, the corresponding figures were about the same. The median number of attacks in those having attacks was 14 in adults and 6 in children last year. Adult females reported on average 19 attacks the previous year versus nine for males. Irrespective of location nine out of 10 reported pain. Trigger factors were experienced in 95 % of adults and 74 % of children. Plasma-derived C1-inhibitor concentrate (pdC1INH) had a very good effect on acute attacks. Long-term prophylaxis with androgens and pdC1INH reduced the annual attack frequency by more than 50 %. Of the children’s parents, 73% had been on parental leave to care for the child due to HAE symptoms. Health and QoL were generally rated as good. In study III 103 of 139 responded and reported an EQ5D today score that was significantly higher than the EQ5D attack score. Attack frequency had a negative effect on EQ5D today. Children had significantly higher EQ-5D-5L than adults. Forty four percent had been absent from work or school during the latest attack. In study IV 64 of 133 adults responded. The most affected HR-QoL dimensions in EQ-5D-5L were pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression, in RAND-36 energy/fatigue, general health, health transition, pain, and in AE-QoL fears/shame and fatigue/mood. Females had significantly lower HR-QoL in RAND-36 for general health and energy/fatigue. There was an association between AAS and EQ-5D-5L/RAND-36 (except physical function) /AEQoL. There was no significant difference in HR-QoL in patients with and without prophylactic medication. Conclusion: The minimal prevalence of HAE type I and II in Sweden is 1.54/100,000. Median age at onset was 12 years. Adult females had twice as many attacks as males, adults had also twice as many attacks as children. For acute treatment, pdC1INH had a very good effect. For long term prophylaxis, androgens and pdC1INH had good effect. The most affected HR-QoL dimensions in EQ-5D-5L were pain/discomfort and anxiety/ depression, in RAND-36 energy/fatigue, general health, health transition and pain, and in AE-QoL fears/shame and fatigue/mood. Children reported better HR-QoL than adults. AE-QoL is more disease-specific in HAE than the generic instruments EQ-5D-5L and RAND-36. However, the latter highlights the pain aspect, whereas AE-QoL does not. Patients with high disease activity should thus be considered for more intensive treatment to improve their HR-QoL.

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) has been extensively used to produce qualitative maps of distributions of proteins, peptides, lipids, neurotransmitters, small molecule pharmaceuticals and their metabolites directly in biological tissue sections. Moreover, during the last 10 years, there has been growing demand to quantify target compounds in tissue sections of various organs. This thesis focuses on development and application of a novel instrument- and manufacturer-independent MSI software suite, msIQuant, in the open access format imzML, which has been developed specifically for quantitative analysis of MSI data. The functionality of msIQuant facilitates automatic generation of calibration curves from series of standards that can be used to determine concentrations of specific analytes. In addition, it provides many tools for image visualization, including modules enabling multiple interpolation, low intensity transparency display, and image fusion and sharpening. Moreover, algorithms and advanced data management modules in msIQuant facilitate management of the large datasets generated following rapid recent increases in the mass and spatial resolutions of MSI instruments, by using spectra transposition and data entropy reduction (at four selectable levels: coarse, medium, fine or superfine) before lossless compression of the data. As described in the thesis, implementation of msIQuant has been exemplified in both quantitative (relative or absolute) and qualitative analyses of distributions of neurotransmitters, endogenous substances and pharmaceutical drugs in brain tissue sections. Our laboratory have developed a molecular-specific approach for the simultaneous imaging and quantitation of multiple neurotransmitters, precursors, and metabolites, such as tyrosine, tryptamine, tyramine, phenethylamine, dopamine, 3-methoxytyramine, serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and acetylcholine, in histological tissue sections at high spatial resolution by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) MSI. Chemical derivatization by charge-tagging primary amines of analytes significantly increased the sensitivity, enabling mapping of neurotransmitters that were not previously detectable by MSI. The two MSI approaches have been used to directly measure changes in neurotransmitter levels in specific brain structures in animal disease models, which facilitates understanding of biochemical mechanisms of drug treatments. In summary, msIQuant software has proven potency (particularly in combination with the reported derivatization technique) for both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Further developments will enable its implementation in multiple operating system platforms and use for statistical analysis.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a complex disorder with multiple pathophysiological processes contributing to the initiation, progression and development of the disease state. AUD is a chronic relapsing disease with escalation of alcohol-intake over time in repeated cycles of tolerance, abstinence and relapse and hence, it is very difficult to treat. There are only a few currently available treatments with narrow efficacy and variable patient response. Thus it is important to find new, more effective medications to increase the number of patients who can benefit from pharmacological treatment of AUD. The research presented in this thesis work focuses on the critical involvement of central neuropeptides in alcohol-related behaviors. The overall aim was to evaluate the nociceptin/orphanin FQ (NOP) receptor, the neuropeptide Y (NPY) Y2 receptor and the melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) receptor 1 as novel and potential pharmacological treatment targets for AUD by testing the NOP receptor agonist SR-8993, the NPY-Y2 receptor antagonist CYM-9840 and the MCH1 receptor antagonist GW803430 in established animal models. In the first study (Paper I), the novel and selective NOP agonist SR-8993 was assessed in rat models of motivation to obtain alcohol and relapse to alcohol seeking behavior using the operant self-administration (SA) paradigm. Firstly, treatment with SR-8993 (1 mg/kg) showed a mildly anxiolytic effect and reversed acute alcohol withdrawal-induced “hangover” anxiety in the elevated plus-maze (EPM). Next, it potently attenuated alcohol SA and motivation to obtain alcohol in the progressive ratio responding (PRR) and reduced both alcohol cue-induced and yohimbine stress-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking, without affecting the pharmacology and metabolism of alcohol nor other control behaviors. To extend these findings, SR-8993 was evaluated in escalated alcohol-intake in rats.  Treatment with SR-8993 significantly suppressed alcohol-intake and preference in rats that were trained to consume high amounts of alcohol in the two-bottle free choice intermittent access (IA) paradigm. SR-8993 also blocked operant SA of alcohol in rats that showed robust escalation in operant alcohol SA following chronic IA exposure to alcohol. In the second study (Paper II), SR-8993 was further evaluated in a model for escalated alcohol-intake induced by long-term IA exposure to alcohol. The effect of previous experience on operant alcohol SA on two-bottle free choice preference drinking was evaluated and sensitivity to treatment with SR-8993 was tested in rats selected for escalated and non-escalated alcohol seeking behavior. We found that rats exposed to the combined SA-IA paradigm showed greater sensitivity to SR-8993 treatment. In addition, acute escalation of alcohol SA after a three-week period of abstinence was completely abolished by pretreatment with SR-8993. In the third study (Paper III), the effects of the novel, small molecule NPY-Y2 antagonist CYM-9840 were tested in operant alcohol SA, PRR which is a model for motivation to work for alcohol and reinstatement of alcohol-seeking behavior. Treatment with CYM-9840 (10 mg/kg) potently attenuated alcohol SA, progressive ratio responding and stress-induced reinstatement using yohimbine as the stressor, while alcohol cue-induced reinstatement was unaffected. Moreover, a range of control behaviors including taste sensitivity, locomotor and pharmacological sensitivity to the sedative effects of alcohol remained unaffected by CYM-9840 pretreatment, indicating that its effects are specific to the rewarding and motivational aspects of alcohol-intake and related behaviors. CYM-9840 also reversed acute alcohol withdrawal-induced “hangover” anxiety measured in the EPM and reduced alcohol-intake in the 4 hour limited access two-bottle free choice preference drinking model. Finally, in the fourth study (Paper IV), the selective MCH1-R antagonist GW803430 was tested in rat models of escalated alcohol-intake. Pretreatment with GW803430 (effective at 10 & 30 mg/kg) dose-dependently reduced alcohol and food-intake in rats that consumed high amounts of alcohol during IA, while it only decreased food-intake in rats that consumed low amounts of alcohol during IA, likely due to a floor effect. Upon protracted abstinence following IA, GW803430 significantly reduced operant alcohol SA and this was associated with adaptations in MCH and MCH1-R gene-expression. In contrast, GW803430 did not affect escalated alcohol SA induced by chronic alcohol vapor exposure and this was accompanied by no change in MCH or MCH1-R gene expression. Overall, these results suggest that the MCH1-R antagonist affects alcohol-intake through regulation of both motivation for caloric-intake and the rewarding properties of alcohol. In conclusion, our results suggest critical roles for these central neuropeptides in the regulation of anxiety and of alcohol reward, making them potential pharmacological targets in the treatment of AUD.