THIOGLYCOSYLATED PHORPHYRIN, CHLORIN, BACTERIOCHLORIN AND ISOBACTERICHLORIN AS PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPEUTIC AGENTS AND THEIR POSSIBLE USE AS BIOIMAGING AGENTS
Author:
Sebastian Thompson
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Advisor:
Dr. Charles Drain
Since first used about a hundred years ago, photodynamic therapy is now a well-established treatment for a variety of cancers and other diseases, and is emerging as new treatments for a broad range of other cancers, antibiotics, and antivirals. In terms of cancer therapy, a dye capable of photosensitizing the formation of singlet oxygen and/or producing reactive oxygen species is delivered to the cancer tissues. Upon activation by either a band or a specific wavelength of light, the reactive oxygen species produced will oxidize nearby biomolecules such as aromatic amino acids, double bonds in lipids, and nucleic acid with diffusion limited kinetics. The resulting oxidative stress induces necrosis or apoptosis depending on a variety of factors including degree and location of the damage. Currently, about four drugs are approved to treat several different types of cancer, these are porphyrinoids or porphyrin precursors, but none have cancer cell targeting motifs appended to the dye.
PALLADIUM-CATALYZED ARYL AMINATIONS OF HALO NUCLEOSIDES, PLATINUM-CATALYZED SYNTHESIS OF NEW BENZO[c]PHENANTHRENE DERIVATIVES AND SYNTHESIS OF A CIS RING-OPENED AMINO TRIOL FROM BENZO[a]PYRENE SERIES 1 DIOL EPOXIDE
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Palladium-catalyzed aryl amination has been utilized for synthesis of N6-aryl adenosines from silyl-protected 6-bromo and 6-chloropurine nucleosides and arylamines. Analysis of conditions revealed that for chloro analogues, 10 mol% palladium acetate/15 mol% Xantphos/Cs2CO3 in toluene, at 100 ºC, was effective. For the bromo analogues 5 mol% Pd(OAc)2/7.5 mol% Xantphos was adequate. Generality of method was evaluated using a variety of arylamines. Synthesis of biologically relevant deoxyadenosine and adenosine dimers was then accomplished. This work compares the reactivities of 6-bromo and 6-chloropurine nucleosides in Pd-catalyzed aryl-amination reactions.
Molecular Orbital Studies of Collagen and Tri-Alanine Peptides
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Advisor:
Joseph J. Dannenberg
The purpose of this thesis is to study the stability of the triple helix (collagen) like peptide structure using computational methods. I am focusing on the collagen stability by using molecular orbital (MO) methods to compare the energies of interaction of Collagen and Tri-Alanine peptides using density functional theory at the B3LYP/D95(d,p) level on the gas phase, aqueous solvation and solvated energies. I present the overall interaction energies as broken down into pure H-bonding between the strands at the geometries they assume in the triple helix.
Polymer Nanolithography
Year of Dissertation:
2010
Nanolithography involves making patterns of materials with at least one dimension less than 100 nanometers. Surprisingly, writable CDs can provide polymer nanostructures for pennies a piece. Building on work previously done in the Drain lab, with an inherited home-built oven press, this research will explore the relationships between polymer chemical reactivity, polymer printing, and material surface energies. In addition, a relatively inexpensive entry point into high school and undergraduate education in nanolithography is presented. The ability to pattern cheaply at the nanoscale and microscale is necessary and attractive for many technologies towards biosensors, organic light emitting diodes, identification tags, layered devices, and transistors.
Supramolecularly Self-Organized Nanomaterials: from Inorganic Particles to Light-Harvesting Organic Materials
Author:
Alessandro Varotto
Year of Dissertation:
2009
In 2009 the U.S. National Science Foundation announced the realignment of the Chemistry Divisions introducing the new interdisciplinary program of "Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry." This statement officially recognizes a field of studies that has already seen the publication of many thousands of works in the past 20 years. Nanotechnology and supramolecular chemistry can be found in the most diverse disciplines, from biology to engineering, to physics. Furthermore, many technologies rely on nanoscale dimensions for more than one component. Nanomaterials and technologies are on the market with a range of applications from composite materials, to electronics, to medicine, to sensing and more. This thesis will introduce a variety of studies and applications of supramolecular chemistry to form nanoscale photonic materials from soft matter. We will first illustrate a method to synthesize metallic nanoparticles using plasmids DNA as a mold. The circular DNA functions as a sacrificial template to shape the particles into narrowly monodispersed nanodiscs. Secondly, we will describe the synthesis of a highly fluorinated porphyrin derivative and how the fluorines improve the formation of ultra thin films when the porphyrin is blended
Electrochemistry with Nanoelectrodes
Author:
Jeyavel Velmurugan
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Electrochemistry with nanoelectrodes
SYNTHESIS AND INVESTIGATION OF BIPHENYLENE PLANARIZED AROMATIC AND ANTI-AROMATIC SYSTEMS
Year of Dissertation:
2012
The aim of the dissertation was to develop synthetic routes to biphenylene planarized aromatic and anti-aromatic systems such as bis(diacetylene)biphenylene 109, and 4,5,6,7-dibenzocyclobutathionin(biphenylenothionin) 110. Bis(diacetylene)anthracene 209 was prepared by Nakagawa by dimerization of 1,8-diethynylanthracene 208.
SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND OPTICAL APPLICATIONS OF NANOMATERIALS
Year of Dissertation:
2010
Nanomaterials have been studied extensively due to their potential application in electronics, photonics and nanodevices. There are a wide variety of methods developed to create the nano-scale materials. Chemical colloidal synthesis is the way most used since it is reproducible and high efficiency.
Pi-Stack Engineering of Semiconducting Perylene Tetracarboxylic Derivatives
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Abstract
SYNTHESE OF POLYMER-SUPPORTED AMIDE-TYPE LIGANDS AND COMPLEXATION OF LANTHANIDE IONS
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Advisor:
Spiro Alexandratos
The complexation of lanthanide ions from acidic solutions was studied with cross-linked polystyrene modified with amide-type ligands: N,N,N',N'-tetramethylmalonamide (TMMA), monoamidated malonate and urea.