Publication Date
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Committee Members
Daniel Ketcha, Ph.D. (Advisor); Eric Fossum, Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kuppuswamy Arumugam, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Abstract
With the intent to synthesize a potent and viable PET imaging agent for Alzheimer’s disease and/or Parkinson’s disease utilizing tau protein aggregates or alpha-synuclein aggregates as the ailments’ respective targets, researchers in this investigation synthesized derivatives of the chalcone scaffold in order to determine a lead molecule for further drug development. This molecular structure, which due to its ability to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB), has demonstrated efficiency in a number of neurodegenerative diseases and constitutes a convenient starting point for the development of potential imaging agents for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Since simple chalcones have been demonstrated to serve as positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents for detecting amyloid-beta plaques, we are now investigating the use of “extended” conjugation derivatives in the expectation that such substrates should prove valuable for targeting the more diagnostically relevant tau protein aggregates characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as the alpha-synuclein aggregates of significance in Parkinson’s disease. These target molecules are readily prepared by the Claisen-Schmidt condensation of appropriately substituted acetophenones and cinnamaldehydes. Due to their facile synthesis, a large number of these compounds can be synthesized readily, bolstering the likelihood that a lead molecule could be determined following biological screening. This study demonstrates the validity of our “extension hypothesis” with the chalcone scaffold as the class of compounds analyzed.
Page Count
200
Department or Program
Department of Chemistry
Year Degree Awarded
2020
Copyright
Copyright 2020, all rights reserved. My ETD will be available under the "Fair Use" terms of copyright law.
