Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Conjugated dendrimer'

Gene expression knockdown using RNA interference has dramatically altered the ability to silence target genes without the need for a creation of a genetic knockout. The pitfalls surrounding successful siRNA gene expression knockdown fall in the broad category of delivery. This work focuses on the use of N-isopropyl-acrylamide conjugated polyglycerol (PGNIPAM) as a novel cationic vector of in vitro and possible in vivo delivery of siRNA. The hyper-branched structure of the PGNIPAM molecule bears a biocompatible core with cationic subunits on the surface, providing a less toxic alternative to other cationic polymers used in the past. Further PGNIPAM shows excellent binding and release characteristics over other comparable molecules and systems. Activity of the siRNA requires access to the cell cytoplasm, which in turn requires passage of the siRNA through the cell membrane and release into the internal environment with no degradation. PGNIPAM has shown the ability to traverse the endocytic pathway and release the siRNA directly into the cytoplasm where it can interact with cellular machinery. Knockdown of known oncogene survivin was observed in vitro both through mRNA expression reduction as well as through protein reduction in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. Additionally, early stage animal work with a human breast cancer model shows positive results for coupled treatment of tumors using siRNA against survivin and doxorubicin, an anticancer drug. PGNIPAM offers a safer alternative to other cationic delivery systems and has shown improvement over standard modes of knockdown from commercial products.

Les nanoparticules décorées de ligands de ciblage sont des dispositifs puissants développés pour servir d'outils théranostiques efficaces contre des maladies graves comme le cancer ou les maladies infectieuses. En raison des limitations importantes des anticorps en tant que ligands de ciblage, comme une grande taille et une faible stabilité, les protéines d'affinité modifiées à façon offrent une alternative intéressante pour la fonctionnalisation des nanoparticules. Les Affitines sont de petites protéines thermiquement et chimiquement stables, dérivées d'une famille de protéines d’archées de 7 kDa liant l'ADN, dont la spécificité et l'affinité pour leurs cibles sont comparables à celles des anticorps. Les dendrimères de l'acide gallique-triéthylèneglycol (GATG) sont des macromolécules monodispersées, synthétiques, globulaires, en forme d'arbre, préparées de façon itérative (générations) permettant une présentation multivalente des ligands de ciblage. L'objectif de ce travail de thèse est de combiner les propriétés de ciblage des Affitines et la polyvalence des dendrimères pour obtenir des conjugués Affitines-dendrimères pour des applications biomédicales. Le premier objectif était de mettre au point une méthode de conjugaison orientée pour incorporer des Affitines ciblant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) et un traceur fluorescent pour la détection et l'imagerie, puis de les caractériser en termes de taille, d’hétérogénéité, de composition et d’affinité. Le deuxième objectif était d'évaluer leur potentiel à moduler des comportements multicellulaires complexes, comme l'agglutination et la formation de biofilms de S. aureus grâce aux interactions multivalentes implémentées
Smart targeted nanoparticles are powerful devices developed to serve as efficient theranostic tools against severe disorders such as cancer or infectious diseases. Due to important limitations of antibodies as targeting ligands, such as large size and low stability, engineered affinity binding proteins offer an attractive alternative for nanoparticle functionalization. Affitins are small, thermally and chemically stable proteins derived from an archaeal 7 kDa DNA-binding family, with specificity and affinity for their targets comparable to that of antibodies. Gallic acid-triethylene glycol (GATG) dendrimers are monodisperse, synthetic globular tree-like macromolecules prepared in a stepwise fashion (generations) allowing multivalent presentation of targeting ligands. The aim of this project is to combine the targeting properties of Affitins and the versatility and multivalency of dendrimers to obtain Affitin-dendrimer conjugates for biomedical applications. The first goal of this work was to develop a site-specific conjugation method to incorporate Affitins targeting Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and a fluorescent dye for detection and imaging, and then to thoroughly characterize them in terms of size, heterogeneity, composition and affinity. The second goal was to assess the potential of these conjugates to modulate complex multicellular behaviors, such as agglutination and biofilm formation of S. aureus due to enhanced multivalent interactions

Anticancer therapeutics are often limited to suboptimal doses due to their lack of selectivity for tumor cells and resultant damage to healthy tissue. These limitations motivated researchers to develop tumor-specific delivery systems for improved therapeutic efficacy and reduced unintended cytotoxicity. Polyamidoamine dendrimers offer an ideal platform for designing targeted therapeutics with tunable characteristics that optimize pharmacokinetic behavior and targeting specificity. Ligand conjugation to dendrimer provides the biochemical interaction necessary to activate tumor-specific receptors for receptor-mediated endocytosis and effective internalization of polyplexes. Tumor-specific receptors overexpressed in carcinomas, like folate receptor-alpha (FOLRα), are targeted by ligand-conjugated dendrimer to allow enhanced internalization of dendrimer and its therapeutic cargo. We examined the cellular trafficking dynamics and potential of folate-conjugated dendrimer for nucleic acid delivery in vitro. Results show folate-conjugation to G4 PAMAM dendrimer (G4FA) confers enhanced uptake in FOLRα-positive tumor cells. Cells internalize G4FA in a receptor-dependent manner with specificity for FOLRα-positive tumor cells.

This thesis reports the photophysical and electroluminescence studies undertaken on two types of material: polymeric and dendritic. The dendritic architecture is a recent concept adopted to develop new materials for light-emitting diodes. The dendritic structure offers a combination of properties of both polymers and small organic molecules whilst having their own interesting characteristic of optimising processibility, charge transport, and optical properties independently. The dendritic structure consists of functional surface groups, conjugated dendrons and a conjugated core. Initial optical (absorption and photoluminescence) studies revealed that the dendrimer emission originates from the core and is independent of excitation wavelength. This was investigated further in distyrylbenzene based dendrimers where the effect of dendrimer generation number on photoluminescence and electroluminescence properties was studied. All dendrimers emit blue electroluminescence with, in some cases, reasonable electroluminescence quantum efficiency in the range of 0.09 % and brightness up to 150 Cd m(^-2). Having established that the furmel effect, where excitation is successfully transferred to the dendrimer core in both PL and EL, different chromophores were incorporated in the dendrimer structure. Colour control was thus demonstrated in EL devices of the different dendrimers, showing the possibility of using a large number of chromophores in a processible form for EL applications. Conjugated polymers were also studied to investigate the nature of the emitting species (poly(p-pyridine)) and the effect of side- chains (poly(p-phenylenevinylene)). In poly(p-pyridine) the emission was found to be strongly dependent on pyridyl ring rotation affecting the emission and its quantum yield while the side-chains in the poly(p-phenylenevinylene) derivatives were found to affect polymer properties such as degree of conversion of non-conjugated to conjugated polymer. The PL quantum yield system was set-up and proved useful in assessing synthesis of new materials.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis we describe various attempts at incorporating macrocycles into dendritic architectures to form macrocycle-dendrimer conjugates with the aim of preparing materials that would exhibit properties that are more than the sum of the constituent parts, in this case macrocycles and dendrimers. A further aim was the synthesis and characterization of metallodendrimers based on such scaffolds and to test these as catalyst precursors in the catalytic oxidation of alcohols. The synthesis of two different types of conjugate systems was attempted; viz. dendrimers functionalized with macrocycles on the peripheries and dendrimers with macrocyclic cores. The synthesis of conjugate systems based on cyclam as the macrocycle was attempted. This required the mono functionalization of cyclam with a linker molecule capable of further reaction with the functional groups at the periphery of commercially available N,N,N,N-tetrakis(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-butanediamine dendrimer. Several approaches were taken in trying to make such conjugate systems but they were not entirely successful. One of the major issues was the final deprotection step, of the Boc-protected cyclam units which proved difficult in our hands. Another approach to prepare the target conjugates involved the use of click chemistry in order to synthesize a dendrimer with an aromatic core and cyclam peripheries. A dendrimer with Boc-protected cyclam peripheries that are bonded through triazole groups to the aromatic core was synthesized. However, subsequent attempts at de-protection of the cyclam functionalities of this conjugate failed to yield the pure de-protected dendrimer. Greater success was achieved with the preparation of a dendrimer with a macrocyclic core. A cyclam cored dendrimer with salicylaldimine peripheries was successfully synthesized and characterized. This dendritic ligand was complexed to Cu(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) metal ions respectively to form a series of new metallodendrimers. These metallodendrimers were fully characterized using a range of analytical techniques including FT-IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, magnetic susceptibility measurements and NMR spectroscopy where appropriate. The Cu(II) and Ni(II) metallodendrimers were tested as catalyst precursors in the catalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde. The catalytic system consisted of the appropriate metallodendrimer, the free radical, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl- 1-oxyl (TEMPO) and O2 as the oxidant. The reaction parameters, namely the nature of the solvent, catalyst loading, substrate concentration and reaction temperature were sequentially optimized to achieve the best catalytic efficiency. The Cu(II) catalyst precursor exhibited relatively high catalytic activity and achieved TOF’s between 40 and 30 when operating under the optimized conditions, while the Ni(II) catalytic system showed very poor catalytic activity.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis beskryf ons pogings om makroringe in die dendritiese argitektuur te inkorporeer om makroring-dendrimeer gekonjugeerdes te vorm met die hoop dat sulke molekules eienskappe sal toon wat meer is as die somtotaal van die afsonderlike eenhede. ‘n Verdere doel was die sintese en karakterisering van metallodendrimere gebaseer op sulke draers sowel as die toetsing van hierdie molekules as pre-katalisore in die katalitiese oksidasie van alkohole. Pogings tot die sintese van twee verskillende tipes makroring-dendrimeer gekonjugeerdes word beskryf naamlik, dendritiese ligande met makroringe by die buiterand sowel as dendritiese ligande met ‘n makroring as kern word bespreek. Die sintese van makroring-dendrimeer gekonjugeerdes gebasseer op die makroring cyclam word beskryf. Hierdie sintese vereis die gebruik van ‘n monogefunksioneerde cyclam wat ‘n gepaste koppelingsgroep besit. Hierdie koppelingsgroep kan dan verder met funksionele groepe op die oppervlak van die kommersieel beskikbare DAB-dendrimeer reageer. Verskeie pogings is aangewend om sulke gekonjugeerde stelsels te sintetiseer maar hierdie pogings was nie volkome suksesvol nie. ‘n Groot uitdaging was die gebruik en gevolglike latere verwydering van beskermende groepe soos Boc. ‘n Ander benadering het gebruik gemaak van “click” chemie met die doel om ‘n dendrimeer bestaande uit ‘n aromatiese kern en cyclam periferie te vorm. ‘n Dendrimeer met Boc beskermde cyclam eenhede op die buiterand geheg aan ‘n aromatiese kern deur triasool groepe is gesintetiseer. Die verwydering van die beskermende groepe geheg aan die cyclam eenhede was egter weereens ‘n probleem en hierdie metode kon nie die suiwer dendrimeer lewer nie. Groter sukses is behaal met die sintese van ‘n dendrimeer met ‘n cyclam kern en salisielaldimien periferieë. Die dendritiese ligand is vervolgens met metaalsoute van Cu(II), Ni(II) en Zn(II) gereageer om verskeie multikern metaalkomplekse te vorm. Die metaalkomplekse is volledig gekarakteriseer deur verskeie analitiese tegnieke insluitende infrarooi spektroskopie, massa spektrometrie, termografiese analiese, mikroanaliese asook KMR spektroskopie waar moontlik. Die Cu(II) en Ni(II) metaalkomplekse is geëvalueer as pre-katalisatore in die katalitiese oksidasie van alkohole. Hierdie katalitiese sisteem bestaan uit die metaalkompleks, die radikaal TEMPO en molekulêre suurstof. Die invloed van verskeie reaksie- parameters soos die tipe oplosmiddel, die hoeveelheid katalisator, die konsentrasie van die alkohol asook die temperatuur is ondersoek. Gevolglik is die optimale kondisies bepaal om die hoogste opbrengs van bensaldehied te lewer. Die Cu(II) kompleks het ‘n relatief hoë omset van bensielalkohol na bensaldehied getoon met omset frekwensie waardes tussen 30 en 40 onder die optimale kondisies. Die Ni(II) kompleks het egter swak aktiwiteit getoon vir hierdie transformasie.

Elastin like peptides (ELPs)—derived from the protein elastin—are widely used as thermoresponsive components in biomaterials due to their LCST (lower critical solution temperature) behavior at a characteristic transition temperature (Tt). While linear ELPs have been well investigated, few reports focused on branched ELPs. Using lysine (Lys, with an additional side-chain amine) as branching units, ELP dendrimers were synthesized by solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) with up to 155 amino acid residues. A secondary structure change with decreasing ratio of random coil and increasing ratio of β-turn upon heating, which is typical of linear ELPs, was confirmed by circular dichroism spectroscopy for all peptides. Conformational change did not show evident dependence on topology, while a higher Tt was observed for dendritic peptides than for their linear control peptides with the same number of GLPGL repeats. Variable-temperature small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements showed a size increase and fractal dimension upon heating, even below the Tt. These results were further confirmed by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), and micro differential scanning calorimetry (micro-DSC), revealing the presence of aggregates below the Tt. These results indicated the presence of a pre-coacervation step in the LCST phase transition of the ELP dendrimers. We further prepared hydrogels by crosslinking hyaluronic acid (HA) with ELP dendrimers. We invesigated their physical properties with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), swelling tests, SAXS, and model drug loading/release experiments. Most of the HA_denELP hydrogels retained transparent upon gelation, but after lyophilization and reswelling remained opaque for days. This reswelling process was carefully investigated with time-course SAXS studies, and was attributed to forming pre-coacervates in the gelation step, which slowly reswelled during rehydration. We then prepared hydrogels with H2S-releasing aroylthiooxime (SATO) groups and showed human neutrophil elastase-responsive H2S-releasing properties with potential applications in treating chronic diseases with recurring inflammation. Furthermore, we prepared a series of wedge-shaped triblock polyethylene glycol (PEG)-ELP dendrimer-C16 (palmitic acid) conjugate amphiphiles with adjustable Tts. Various techniques were used to investigate their hierarchical structures. The triblock PEG-peptide-C16 conjugate amphiphiles were thermoresponsive and showed a morphology change from small micelles to large aggregates. However, the hydrophilic shell and strong tendency for micelle formation limited the thermoresponsive assembly, leading to slow turbidity change in the LCST transition. The secondary structure was twisted from conventional β-sheet, and the thermoresponsive trend observed in typical ELP systems was not observed, either. Variable temperature NMR showed evidence for coherent dehydration of the PEG and ELP segments, probably due to the relatively short blocks. Utilizing the micelles with hydrophobic cavity, we were able to encapsulate hydrophobic drugs, with promising applications for localized drug release in hyperthermia.
Doctor of Philosophy

Au cours de cette thèse, nous avons synthétisé et caractérisé de nouveaux composés en utilisant le macrocycle porphyrine en tant que brique moléculaire. L’objectif, après la synthèse, était d’étudier les propriétés photophysiques de ces nouvelles molécules. Plus précisément, nous avons considérés trois groupes de dendrimères fluorènyles-porphyrines et deux oligomères avec des structures conjuguées. Les corrélations structures et propriétés optiques ont été discutées en détail, ainsi que le transfert d’énergie du dendron conjugué donneur. Dans le premier chapitre, nous avons décrit la chimie des porphyrines en considérant surtout trois aspects: (i) structure, (ii) propriétés optiques et (iii) méthode synthétique. Nous avons également reporté les porphyrines préalablement étudiées dans notre groupe de recherche et proposé de nouveaux modèles lors de cette thèse. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous avons étudié l’influence de la position de substitution du phényle sur le coeur central qui est la porphyrine TPP. Deux groupes de nouveaux dendrimères ont été synthétisés avec différentes positions de substitution du phényle de la TPP: série parasubstituée TPP1, TPP2 et TPP3, et série méta-substituée TPP4, TPP5 et TPP6. Ces dendrimères ont tous des dendrons conjugués avec des ponts phényl-alcynes et des groupements fluorènyles terminaux. Dans le troisième chapitre, pour étudier l’influence des antennes périphériques, une série de dendrimères de porphyrine à base de TFP avec différentes positions de fluorènyles dans les dendrons conjugués (fluorényle central, fluorényle pontant et fluorényle terminal): TFP1, TFP2 et TFP3 a été synthétisée. Le fluorényle central influence principalement l’émission et le rendement quantique, alors que le fluorényle ponté et le fluorényle terminal ont un plutôt un effet sur l’absorption et l’émission du dendron en raison du transfert d’énergie prenant effet. Pour le plus gros dendrimère TFP3, lors de l’excitation du dendron, une émission résiduelle lors du processus de transfert est observée due à une trop grande distance entre ce chromophore et le coeur de la porphyrine. Dans le quatrième chapitre, afin d’étudier l’influence des connexions dans le dendron, deux nouveaux dendrimères de porphyrine incorporant des ponts vinyles et alcynyles, TPP-D et TFP-D, ont été synthétisés et comparés aux analogues avec des ponts alcynes TPP-T et TFP-T. Ces ponts avec des doubles liaisons influencent dans une certaine mesure les propriétés optiques des dendrimères de porphyrine en fonction des positions occupées. Dans le dernier chapitre, deux oligomères (un dimère linéaire et en un trimère en étoile), ont été synthétisés à partir du même monomère de porphyrine avec TFP comme groupement terminaux
During this thesis, we have worked on the synthesis and characterization of new compounds using the porphyrin macrocycle as a starting material. The aim, after synthesis, was to study the photophysical properties of these new molecules. More precisely, we have synthesized and characterized three groups of fluorenyl-porphyrin dendrimers and two oligomers in conjugated structures. Their correlation on optical property-structure have been discussed in detail, as well as the energy transfer processes from the conjugated dendron donor to porphyrin acceptor. In the first chapter, we introduce the general background of the porphyrin chemistry based on three aspects: (i) structure, (ii) optical properties and (iii) synthetic methods. We further review prior porphyrin studies done in our group and propose new molecular designs based on these results. In the second chapter, we study the influence of substitution position and nature of the antennae on the central core. Two groups of new TPP-cored porphyrin dendrimers were synthesized according to different substituted positions on the peripheral phenyl rings: para-substituted series TPP1, TPP2 and TPP3, and meta-substituted ones TPP4, TPP5 and TPP6. All have conjugated dendrons with bridged phenyl-alkynyl and are terminated by fluorenyl groups. In the third chapter, we study the influence of positions of light absorbers. To this aim, a series of TFP-cored porphyrin dendrimers presenting fluorenyls in conjugated dendrons on different positions is reported (core fluorenyl, bridging fluorenyl and terminal fluorenyl): TFP1, TFP2 and TFP3. The core fluorenyl mainly influences emission peaks and quantum yield, while the bridging fluorenyl and terminal fluorenyl have a large effect on the dendron absorption and on the energy transfer efficiency. Thus, for the largest dendrimer TFP3, dendron emission is not totally quenched by long distance energy transfer process when exciting the peripheral dendrons. In the fourth chapter, we study the influence of linkages in the Dendron. Thus, two new porphyrin dendrimers with bridged vinyl, TPP-D and TFP-D, were synthesized and compared to analogues with alkynyl bridged TPP-T and TFP-T. Vinyl and alkynyl bridges are shown to influence the optical properties of the porphyrin dendrimers to a certain extent depending on the substituted positions. Finally, in the last chapter, two oligomers with n-butyl substituted TFP as terminal group, a linear dimer and a star – shaped trimer, were synthesized from the same porphyrin monomer

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
The continuous increase in energy consumption and decrease in fossil fuels reserves are a primary concern worldwide; especially for South Africa. Therefore, there is an urgent need for alternative energy resources that will be sustainable, and environmentally friendly in order to tackle the ecological degradation generated by the use of fossil fuels. Among many energy ‘niches’, solar energy appears to be one of the most promising and reliable for the African continent because of the constant availability of sun light. Organic conjugated polymers have been identified as suitable materials to ensure proper design and fabrication of flexible, easy to process and cost-effective solar cells. Their tendency to exhibit good semiconducting properties and their capability to absorb photons from the sunlight and convert it into electrical energy are important features that justify their use in organic photovoltaic cells. Many different polymers have been investigated as either electron donating or electron accepting materials. Among them, poly(3-hexylthiophene) is one of the best electron donor materials that have been used in organic photovoltaic cells. It is a good light absorber and its Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) energy level is suitable to allow electron transfer into an appropriate electron acceptor. On the other hand, the molecular ordering found in dendrimers attracted some interest in the field of photovoltaics as this feature can ensure a constant flow of charges. In this work, I hereby report for the first time, the chemical synthesis of a highly crystalline dendritic star copolymer generation 1 poly(propylene thiophenoimine)-co-poly(3-hexylthiophene) (G1PPT-co-P3HT) with high molecular weight and investigate its application as donating material in bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005.
Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xix, 343 p.; also includes graphics (some col.) Includes bibliographical references (p. 325-343).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Akron, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, 2008.
"August, 2008." Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed 12/9/2009) Advisor, Stephanie T. Lopina; Committee members, Amy Milsted, Daniel B. Sheffer, Daniel Ely; Department Chair, Daniel B. Sheffer; Dean of the College, George K. Haritos; Dean of the Graduate School, George R. Newkome. Includes bibliographical references.

Les analogues de nucléosides sont d'une importance considérable dans la recherche de nouveaux candidats médicaments antiviraux et anticancéreux. La ribavirine est en effet le premier nucléoside triazole antiviral synthétique. Elle est toujours activement utilisée en milieu hospitalier pour le traitement de l'hépatite C et celui des pandémies virales émergentes. Récemment, le besoin de nouveaux agents thérapeutiques efficaces dotés de nouveaux mécanismes d'action a donc créé un regain d'intérêt dans la création de nouvelles entités structurelles de nucléosides triazoles. Au cours de mon doctorat, j’ai été activement engagée dans l’élaboration de nouvelles structures O-arylées et S-arylées de nucléosides triazoles. Les nucléosides triazoles O-arylés ont été obtenus par substitution nucléophile aromatique initiée par micro-ondes, tandis que les nucléosides triazoles S-arylés ont été synthétisés par réaction de couplage C-S en utilisant un catalyseur palladié possédant des ligands mixtes nouvellement mis au point dans notre laboratoire. Le concept du système de catalyseur à ligands mixtes est extrêmement avantageux et enrichissant puisqu’il permet de combiner de façon rationnelle des ligands possédant des fonctionnalités complémentaires afin de promouvoir des réactions avec des substrats pour lesquels ces réactions sont très compliquées. Enfin, afin d'améliorer la solubilité dans l'eau des analogues nucléosidiques triazoles actifs que nous avons identifiés, j’ai tenté de conjuguer le nucléoside triazole à un dendrimère amphiphile dans le but d'élaborer un système de délivrance efficace des médicaments et ainsi d’améliorer leur biodisponibilité
Nucleoside mimics are of considerable importance in the search of antiviral and anticancer drug candidates. One noteworthy example is ribavirin, the first synthetic antiviral triazole nucleoside discovered 40 years ago, which is still actively in clinic use for treating hepatitis C infection and emerging viral pandemics. Recently, ribavirin has been also reported to demonstrate apoptosis-related anticancer effects and is in clinical trial for treating leukemia. Consequently, there is a renewed interest in creating new structural entities of triazole nucleosides with the aim of developing potent therapeutic agents with novel mechanisms of action. During my PhD program, I have been actively engaged in constructing structurally novel O-arylated and S-arylated triazole nucleosides. The O-arylated triazole nucleosides were obtained via microwave promoted aromatic nucleophilic substitution, whereas the S-arylated triazole nucleosides were synthesized via C-S coupling reaction using our newly developed mixed ligand Pd catalyst (Pd2(dba)3/Xantphos/CyPF-tBu). The concept of the mixed ligand catalyst system is extremely advantageous and rewarding, offering a unique opportunity to rationally combine ligands with complementary features in order to promote the reactions with challenging substrates which are otherwise difficult to proceed. Finally, in order to improve bioavailability of the active triazole nucleoside analogues identified in our group, I have attempted to conjugate the triazole nucleoside to an amphiphilic dendrimer in the view to establishing an effective drug delivery system and offering a better bioavailability

碩士
高雄醫學大學
醫藥暨應用化學研究所
96
This project focus on the design, preparation and characterization of carrier macromolecular which are able to carry pyridoxal-5-phosphate (PLP). We had synthesized several modified PAMAM dendrimers. With synthetic short peptide containing lysine, we introduce those peptides on the surface of G3 and G4 PAMAM dendrimer. As far, compounds 14, 39 and 41 were successfully prepared under linear assembly approach. Compounds 14 and 39 are derivatives of G3 and G4 PAMAM dendrimer, respectively. To learn the binding affinity of synthetic dendrimer, the Scatchard-Klotz analysis was applied. The result shows the binding constant of our synthetic molecle up to 0.35 mM-1 which is similar to the known natural PLP associate enzymes. Meanwhile, the compound 41, tyrosine was used instead of phenylalanine, to reveal the possible capality of tyrosine. The results suggest our hypothesis should be reasonable and feasible.

碩士
高雄醫學大學
醫藥暨應用化學研究所
98
Pyridoxal 5′-Phosphate (PLP) is the active member of of vitamin B6. PLP are known to perform numbers of reactivities in a variety of enzymes in which the lysine is a conserved residue for harboring PLP via Schiff base moiety. This is also known as external aldimine. During the course of reaction, the inbound substrate will form new Schiff base with PLP, and known as external aldimine. The exchange between external and internal aldimine is important for the demonstration of reactions. Base on the previous experimental results, we design a tripeptide involving lysine to modify the surface of PAMAM dendrimer for binding the Pyridoxal 5′-Phosphate. The designed peptides are Phe-Lys-X. The aromatic ring of phenylamine enhances the binding through PLP by?n???{???ninteraction. By the same reason, histidine, tryptophan, or tyrosine are chosen to be the third residue. During the synthesis of peptide, we found the protecting group is crucial to the solubility of those tripeptides. Those with Fmoc protecting group exhibit poor solubility. (G; 4, 5, 7)-dendri-PAMAM-(APO-Phe-Lys)n was selected for the investigation of rasemization. Under basic condition, the racemization was monitered by HPLC analysis. This result proves the ability of those synthetic dendrimers as catalyst of racemization.

碩士
嘉南藥理大學
生物科技系
103
Gene therapies using DNA and siRNA have been widely investigated in fundamental research. There are many methods to increase the transfection and gene expression including viral and non-viral vectors. Due to many drawbacks of viral vectors, non-viral carriers became another choice for gene therapy. Generally, the polymeric micelles were usually composed of amphiphilic block copolymers. The research was designed to use polyurethane dendrimers(PUAD) as a hydrophilic periphery. Because of the dendrimers with cationic characteristic, therefore, we conduct some test on the polymeric micelles to make sure that their potential to be a transfection vector. Biodegradable material poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide)(PLGA) was used as a inter hydrophobic core and reduced the toxicity of cationic PUAD. In this study, we used different generations of PUAD (G 2.0, 3.0) and PLGA to form amphiphilic block copolymers by dehydration reaction and their chemical structures were confirmed using FT-IR and NMR. The following tests were to evaluate the characteristics of PLGA-PUAD micelles: DLS to analyze its particle size and zeta-potential, electrophoresis, cytotoxicity, and transfection efficiency. It was found that the PUAD-PLGA can become a potential non-viral gene vectors based on the above results.

Pyrroles are found in various natural products and in the chemical composition of certain drugs because of their interesting biological properties. Lipitor, Tolmetin and Amtolmetin are examples of drugs with 1,2,5-substituted pyrroles in their composition, in which biological activities have been certified. Moreover, pyrroles are used as precursors of semiconductor polymers, oligomers and dendrimers useful for the synthesis of electroluminescent materials used in devices, such as organic light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, solar and organic photovoltaic cells. We are interested in conjugated polymers based on pyrrole due to their optical properties, electrochemical and the conductivity produced by electron delocalization along their carbon chains. The overall objective of the work presented in this thesis is the synthesis of new molecules based on pyrrole for studying their electronic and electrochemical properties as well for the synthesis of conjugated polymers. Initially, we performed the synthesis of 1,3,5-tri-(1-alkyl-5-methylpyrrol-2-yl)benzenes, which may serve as precursors for the synthesis of conjugated dendrimers. Their synthesis was made in three steps starting from trimethyl 1,3,5-benzene-tricarboxylate which was converted to 1,3,5-tri-(pent-4-enoyl)benzene using vinylmagnesium bromide in a Grignard reaction catalyzed by copper cyanide. The olefins of 1,3,5-tri-(pent-4-enoyl)benzene were oxidized to produce 1,3,5-tri-(4-oxopentanoyl)benzene using a modified protocol of the Tsuji-Wacker reaction. Subsequent, Paal-Knorr condensation reactions on 1,3,5-tri-(4-oxopentanoyl)benzene with different amines were used to synthesize 1,3,5-tri-(1-alkyl-5-methylpyrrol-2-yl)benzenes with different N-substituents in yields between 44 and 60%. Incomplete reaction of vinylmagnesium bromide with trimethyl 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate gave the methyl-3,5-di(pent-4-enoyl)benzoate, which was converted to methyl-3,5-dipyrrolylbenzoate following the reaction of Tsuji- Wacker and Paal-Knorr with yields between 30 and 60%. The photochemical and electrochemical properties of the 1,3,5-tri-(1-alkyl-5-methylpyrrol-2-yl)benzenes and methyl-3,5-dipyrrolylbenzoates were studied in collaboration with the research group of professor William Skene. The results have shown that both types of pyrrole have potential for the synthesis of conjugated polymers and dendrimers used in the manufacture of electroluminescent materials. Following these encouraging results, we performed the synthesis of 6,12-dimethyl-1,5-dipyrrolediazocane. Methyl N-(Boc)-β-alaninate was converted to its corresponding homoallylic ketone, which was oxidized to N-(Boc)aminoheptan-3,6-dione. The Paal-Knorr condensation between N-(Boc)aminoheptan-3,6-dione and aminoheptan-3,6-dione hydrochloride gave 6,12-dimethyl-1,5-dipyrrolediazocane in 17% yield. In sum, we have synthesized and characterized seven new molecules, six of them having photochemical and electrochemical properties interesting for the synthesis of conjugated polymers and dendrimers. The latter offering potential as precursor for the conception of compounds of therapeutic interest.
Les pyrroles sont une classe de molécules que l'on trouve dans divers produits naturels ainsi que dans la composition chimique de certains médicaments en raison de leurs propriétés biologiques intéressantes. Le Lipitor, la Tolmetin et l'Amtolmetin sont des exemples de médicaments à base de pyrroles 1,2,5 substitués dont les activités biologiques ont été certifiées. Les pyrroles sont aussi utilisés comme précurseurs de polymères, oligomères et dendrimères semi-conducteurs nécessaires à la synthèse de certains matériaux électroluminescents, tels que les diodes organiques électroluminescentes, les transistors à effets de champ et les cellules organiques photovoltaïques. Nous nous sommes intéressés à ces polymères conjugués à base de pyrroles en raison de leurs qualités de bons conducteurs, de leurs propriétés optiques et électrochimiques que leur confère la délocalisation des électrons le long de leurs chaines carbonées. L'objectif général des travaux présentés dans ce mémoire est de synthétiser de nouvelles molécules à base de pyrroles pouvant éventuellement servir de précurseurs à la synthèse de dendrimères conjugués ainsi qu'à la synthèse de molécules thérapeutiques. Une étude de leurs propriétés électroniques et électrochimiques sera effectuée afin de déterminer leur potentiel pour la fabrication de matériaux électroluminescents. Dans un premier temps, la synthèse des analogues du 1,3,5-benzènetripyrrole a été faite en trois étapes à partir du 1,3,5-benzènetricarboxylate de triméthyle. Celui-ci a été converti en premier lieu en 1,3,5-benzènetricétone-γ,δ-insaturée lors d'une réaction de Grignard catalysée par le cyanure de cuivre. Ce dernier composé fut oxydé lors de la seconde étape en 1,3,5-tri-(4-oxopentanoyl)benzène selon un protocole modifié de la réaction de Tsuji-Wacker. Enfin, la réaction de condensation de Paal-Knorr du 1,3,5-tri-(4-oxopentanoyl)benzène de l'étape précédente mène au 1,3,5-benzènetripyrrole N-substitué selon l'amine utilisée pour la condensation, avec des rendements entre 44 et 60%. La réaction incomplète du bromure de vinylmagnésium avec le 1,3,5-benzènetricarboxylate de triméthyle mène au méthyl-3,5-di-(pent-4-énoyl)benzoate, qui a été converti en méthyl-3,5-dipyrrolylbenzoate suite à la réaction de Tsuji-Wacker et de Paal-Knorr avec des rendements entre 30 et 60%. L'étude des propriétés photochimiques et électrochimiques des tripyrroles et des bipyrroles a été faite en collaboration avec le groupe de recherche du professeur William Skene. Les résultats obtenus démontrèrent que ces pyrroles auraient un potentiel pour la synthèse de dendrimères conjugués servant à la fabrication de matériaux électroluminescents. Suite à ces résultats encourageants, la synthèse du 6,12-diméthyle-1,5-dipyrrolediazocane a aussi été réalisée. Celui-ci a été synthétisé à partir de l’ester méthylique de l’acide 3-tert-butoxycarbonylaminopropionique qui a été converti en sa cétone homoallylique correspondante, puis oxydée en N-Boc-3,6-dioxoheptylcarbamate. La condensation de Paal-Knorr de ce dernier composé avec le sel d'hydrochlorure 7-aminoheptane-2,5-dione mène au 6,12-diméthyle-1,5-dipyrrolediazocane avec un rendement de 17%. En somme, la recherche effectuée a permis la synthèse et la caractérisation de six nouvelles molécules ayant des propriétés photochimiques et électrochimiques intéressantes pour la synthèse de polymères et dendrimères conjugués. Ainsi que la synthèse d'un diazacycle, qui de part sa structure pourrait servir de précurseur à la synthèse de molécules thérapeutiques.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
醫學工程學研究所
94
Dendrimers as drug or carriers attract highly concern in recent years, and one of the most popular dendrimers is Polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers. They characterize as : (1)more stable and smaller size (compared with other drug carriers, such as liposomes and micelles) ; (2)easily-controlled size and conformation ; (3) well-difined globular shape and high density of peripheral aminal groups ; (4)high hydrophilicity ; (5)possess good gene transfer capability. Therefore, we could increase the hydrophilicity of drugs by conjugating with PAMAM dendrimers and take advantage of peripheral aminal groups to delivery drusg or genes. Many photosensitizers are phydrophobic, and it would decrease their utility in clinic. In this study, we conjugated photosensitizers (TAMCPP) with PAMAM G4 dendriers to expect to increase the hydrophilicity. Meanwhile, we hoped that the conjugates could integrate the photochemical internalization (PCI) into PAMAM dendrimers to perform light-induced gene transfection. After these PAMAM dendrimer G4-TAMCPP conjugates (G4-TAMCPP) were synthesized, we used different methods to analysis their properties including partition coefficients, thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis, particle size, morphology and UV-Vis absorption spectrum. Moreover, we analyzed and quantified the uptake of G4-TAMCPP conjugates in cells, compared the PDT effect with free TAMCPP molecules (with 430nm light source), and evaluated their light-induced DNA transfection efficacy. The G4-TAMCPP conjugate had UV-Vis absorption peak at 423nm, revealed high hydrophilicity (low partition coefficients), and their particle size were about 60~80nm. As shown in the quantitative results of flow cytometry, the cellular uptake of G4-TAMCPP conjugates was higher than free TAMCPP molecules at the incubation time 6-48 hours, and resulted in higher PDT effects for G4-TAMCPP than TAMCPP. In DNA transfection experiments, the G4-TAMCPP conjugate revealed DNA transfection efficacy at light-induced condition than dark condition or free PAMAM G4 condition. To sum up, here we constructed a platform of dendrimer-photosensitizer system, proved the possibility and application of hydrophobic photosensitizers modificated with dendrimer and integrated PCI concept to dendrimer gene carriers.

Macromolecules with optoelectronic properties are of much interest due to their potential applications. In this document, the focus is placed on dendritic macromolecules based on triarylamines. Both the design and synthesis of the triarylamine repeat units and nonconjugated dendrimers are described. In addition, various relative quantum yield observations have been made in order to discern some of the characteristics of these systems. Comparisons of linear and dendritic systems are also discussed.

碩士
嘉南藥理科技大學
生物科技系
101
Polymeric micelles is the most potential and forward-looking drug carriers among the drug delivery systems. Polymeric micelles usually consists of amphiphilic copolymer. The purpose of this study is to design amphiphilic copolymer to form polymeric micelles. Hydrophobic side of the part of the drug-coated to form the core, and then dendrimer hydrophilic end to stabilize the particles in the aqueous medium. The amphiphilic copolymer was obtained through the reaction between the PLGA and dndrimers (PUAD) via dehydration. Te chemical structure of the amphiphilic copolymer was indentified by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). We also studied various properties about the synthesized amphiphilic copolymer as acid-base titration to determine the particle size, critical micelle concentration, cytotoxicity, the increasement of drug solubility, drug loading and drug released kinetics. From above data, It is found that amphiphilic copolymer can be used as drug delivery system.

Novel manganese(I) tricarbonyl complexes based on the tridentate bis(pyrazolyl)ethylamine (bpea) ligand with pendant functionalized phenyl groups were synthesized and conjugated to biological carrier systems like peptides and dendrimers. Their dark stability establishes them as CORM prodrugs. The monomers show a faster CO-release compared to the peptide and dendrimer conjugates. However, both monomers and peptide conjugates release two equivalents of CO upon photoactivation at 365 nm. The dendrimer conjugates can deliver up to seven equivalents of CO due to the higher number of Mn(CO)3 moieties per molecular unit. In the future, the biological activity of the conjugates needs to be further explored to establish the targeted delivery of CO to cells and tissues
Das Ziel dieser Doktorarbeit war die Synthese von Mangan(I)-Tricarbonylkomplexen als neuartige photoaktivierbare CO-releasing molecules (PhotoCORMs) und ihrer Peptid- und Dendrimer-Konjugate als Trägersysteme für das targeted delivery von Kohlenstoffmonoxid in biologischen Systemen. Dafür wurde eine Serie von sechs Mn(I)-Tricarbonylkomplexen basierend auf dem Bis(pyrazolyl)ethylamin-Liganden (bpea) hergestellt welche einen para-substituierten Phenylring mit einer peripheren Iod- oder Alkin-Gruppe enthalten. Diese sollten eine Konjugation an Biomoleküle mittels Sonogashira- oder CuAAC-"click"-Reaktion ermöglichen. Alle Verbindungen wurden in guter Ausbeute mit hoher Reinheit erhalten. Die Einkristall-Röntgenstrukturen der Verbindungen mit Iod- und Alkin- Substituenten belegen die faciale Koordination des tridentaten bpea-Liganden an die Mn(CO)3-Gruppe. Alle Komplexe zeigen bei Lichtausschluß eine sehr gute Stabilität in Dimethylsulfoxid-Lösung über bis zu 14 h, die Photoaktivierung bei 365 nm führt dagegen zur Freisetzung von zwei Äquivalenten Kohlenstoffmonoxid pro Mol Komplex. Obwohl die Verbindungen MLCT-Banden um 350 nm ausweisen, können sie auch noch bei 410 nm stimuliert werden, was für biologische Anwendungen vorteilhaft ist. Die photoinduzierte CO-Freisetzung wurde auch mittels IR- Spektroskopie in Lösung verfolgt. Die Banden neu auftretender Intermediate konnten dabei mit Hilfe von DFT-Rechnungen zugeordnet werden und belegen die Bildung von cis-Mn(CO)2-Spezies nach der Freisetzung eines ersten Äquivalents Kohlenstoffmonoxid. Die CO-Freisetzung wurde auch mit Hilfe eines des fluoreszenten CO-Indikators COP-1 untersucht. Während bei Inkubation im Dunkeln auch bei einem 10:1- Verhältnis von CORM zu COP-1 kein Signal beobachtet werden konnte, führt die lichtinduzierte CO-Freisetzung zu einem konzentrationsabhängigen Anstieg der Fluoreszenz. Die photoaktivierte CO-Freisetzung wurde auch in lebenden HUVEC- Zellen untersucht. In der überstehenden Lösung konnte ein Ansteig der COP-1- Fluoreszenz relativ zum Hintergrund um einen Faktor von 15 beobachtet werden während die Intensititäszunahme für die Zellfraktion nur bei etwa 5-fach lag. Dies könnte auf eine nur geringe Zellaufnahme von COP-1 oder CORM oder beider Moleküle zurückzuführen sein. Die Untersuchungen etablieren die bpea-Komplexe aber eindeutig als photoaktivierbare CO-releasing molecules (PhotoCORMs). Peptide sind attraktive Trägersysteme für das cellular delivery von Metallkomplexen. Als Modell für solche Trägerpeptide wurde die transforming growth factor -bindende (TGF-) Sequenz durch Festphase-Peptidsynthese hergestellt. Die Anknüpfung von [Mn(bpea)(CO)3]+ an das Peptid über eine periphere Funktionalität des Liganden über eine Sonogashira-Kreuzkupplung bzw. CuAAC-"Click"-Reaktion sollte in einer Postlabelling-Strategie erfolgen. Obwohl verschiedene Bedingungen getestet wurden führte erstere Reaktion jedoch nicht zum Erfolg. Die CuAAC-Reaktion zwischen einem Alkin-funktionalisierten Metallkomplex und einem Azid-terminierten Peptid führt dagegen zu dem gewünschten N-terminal funktionalisierten Konstrukt, welches über eine Triazolgruppe zusammengehalten wird. Trotzdem zeigte das Konjugat auf Grund einer Imin-Bindung im bpea-Liganden eine Tendenz zur Hydrolyse in wässrigem Medium. Als Alternative wurde daher die milde und katalysatorfreie Oxim-Ligation in Verbindung mit einem stabileren, Amin- anstatt Imin-basierten Liganden untersucht. Die Kupplung zwischen einem Aminoxyessigsäure- terminierten TGF--bindenden Peptid und einem Aldehyde-funktionalisierten Metallkomplex ergab das gewünschte Konjugat in guter Ausbeute mit höher Stabilität. Für bis zu 96 h konnte selbst bei wiederholten freeze-thaw-Zyklen keinerlei Zersetzung beobachtet werden. Das CO-Freisetzungsverhalten von Konjugat und Stammverbindung war identisch, die Photoaktivierung bei 365 nm führt für beide innerhalb von 1–1.5 h zur Freisetzung von zwei Äquivalenten CO pro Mol Komplex. Die Oxim-Ligation konnte so als milder Zugang zu CORM-Peptidkonjugaten etabliert werden. Dendrimere sind Baum-artige Moleküle mit einer Vielzahl von Funktionalitäten in der Peripherie, die eine Modifikation mit Metallkomplexen für biologische Anwendungen erlauben. Von besonderem Interesse ist hierbei die Anreicherung in Tumorgewebe auf Grund des enhanced permeability and retention(EPR)-Effekts. Diaminobutan(DAB)- und Polyamidoamin(PAMAM)-Dendrimere der Generation 1 mit vier terminalen Amingruppen wurden daher in einer Schiff-Base-Kondensation mit Aldehyd-funktionalisierten Mn(bpea)(CO)3-Komplexen umgesetzt. Die erhaltenten Metallkomplex-Dendrimer-Konjugate waren in wässriger DMSO-Lösung im Dunkeln für bis zu 14 h stabil. Die Photolyse zeigte eine geringfügig schnellere CO- Freisetzung für das DAB- vs. dem PAMAM-Dendrimer. Eine Anregung bei 410 nm führte zu einer deutlich langsameren CO-Freisetzung gegenüber der 365 nm- Belichtung. Mit Hilfe des Myoglobin-Assays konnte gezeigt werden daß auf diese Weise 50–55% der Gesamtzahl an CO-Liganden aus dem System freigesetzt werden kann. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden neue Mangan(I)tricarbonyl-Komplexe auf der Basis des tridentaten Bis(pyrazolyl)ethylamin(bpea)-Liganden hergestellt, die in der Peripherie funktionalisierte Phenylgruppen tragen, welche die Anknüpfung an biologische Trägersysteme auf der Basis von Peptiden und Dendrimeren erlauben. Auf Grund ihrer Stabilität unter Lichtausschluß sind diese Verbindungen als CORM- Prodrugs geeignet. Die Photoaktivierung bei 365 nm führt zur Freisetzung von zwei Äquivalenten CO pro Mol CORM, wobei die Stammverbindungen eine etwas schnellere Kinetik aufweisen als die Konjugate. Insbesondere die Dendrimer- basierten Systeme können auf Grund der hohen Anzahl von Mn(CO)3-Gruppen bis zu sieben CO pro Mol Konjugat liefern. Für die Zukunft bleibt zu zeigen ob diese Konjugate eine zelluläre Anreicherung für biologische Anwendungen erlauben wird

碩士
嘉南藥理大學
生物科技系
102
Drug delivery system to improve the efficacy of treatment have a considerable types. In recent years some studies indicate that polymer nano-micelles can be used as delivery vehicles for drug with lower solubility. Polymeric micelles usually consists of amphiphilic copolymer. The purpose of this study is to design amphiphilic copolymer to form polymeric micelles. Hydrophobic side of the copolymer form the core, and then dendrimer hydrophilic end stabilize the particles in the aqueous medium. The amphiphilic copolymer was obtained through the reaction between the PLGA and different generation polyurethane dendrimers (PUAD) via dehydration. The chemical structure of the amphiphilic copolymer was indentified by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). We also studied various properties about the synthesized amphiphilic copolymer as DLS and TEM to determine particle size, cytotoxicity, the increasement of drug solubility, drug loading, and controlled release.

碩士
嘉南藥理科技大學
生物科技系暨研究所
99
The successful gene therapy need an ideal gene delivery vector. Two popular vectors for gene delivery under intensively studied are viral carriers and non viral ones. In non-viral vector, the most important requirement is the low cytotoxicity and high transfection efficiency. The purpose of this study is to design and synthesize new cationic dendrimers with a low cell toxicity and high biodegradability. The new material can condense negatively charged plasmid DNA by electrostatic force to self-assembly of nano-sized complexes. This nano-complexes can achieve the therapeutic effect of intracellular through endocytosis. Folic acid has been used as a targeting ligand for drug delivery systems for cancer therapy in past years. In this study, we use poly(urethane-amine) dendrimer (PUAD) to conjugate folic acid molecules ..We synthesized PUAD-OH-FA as a tumor-targeting gene carrier and PUAD as a reference. The chemical structures of PUAD-OH-FA and PUAD were indentified by NMR and FT-IR. The various weight ratios of PUAD-OH-FA /DNA and PUAD/DNA complexes were prepared. Particle size and zeta potential of complexes were analyzed by dynamic light scattering. Agarose gel electrophoresis was used to evaluate the characterizations of PUAD-OH-FA /DNA and PUAD/DNA prepared from different weight ratios. Thus, PUAD-OH-FA is potentially developed as a gene carrier specifically targeting to tumor cells.

This thesis deals with theoretical studies of electronic properties of organic conjugated molecules. The first chapter introduces different classes of organic conjugated molecules which possess high hole mobility, large quadratic non-linear response and low band gap. In this chapter, we further describe different photo-physical processes and the basic principles of various opto-electronic devices. The second chapter provides an introduction to various many-body techniques, which are employed in studying ground and excited state properties of organic conjugated systems. First, we describe the Hartree-Fock theory and the Density Functional (DFT) method. These are followed by full Configuration-Interaction (CI) methods and various semi-empirical methods (CNDO, INDO and NDDO). The INDO method is used in subsequent chapters to obtain the ground and excited state properties of organic conjugated molecules. In addition, we describe the restricted CI (SCI and SDCI) and the Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG) methods. The third chapter of this thesis deals with a time evolution study to ascertain the role of the triplet state in the green emission of the ethyl-hexyl substituted poly-fluorene (PF2/6) films. To understand this phenomenon, we have modeled various non-radiative processes like (i) Inter-System Crossing (ISC), (ii) electron-hole Recombination (e-hR) and (iii) Triplet Quenching (TQ). These studies conclusively prove the contribution of triplet states to the 500 nm EL peak. In chapter four, we describe the origin of the unusual EL in tri-p-tolylamine (TTA) based hole conductors. In order to model this phenomenon, we have performed SCI calculations on TTA, its radical ions and allied hole conductors (TAPC and TPD). These calculations indicate that the unusual EL is due to low-lying charge-transfer (CT) state, which is stabilized by charge-dipole and charge-induced-dipole interactions. In chapter five, we turn our attention to the calculation of ground and excited state properties of a class of donor-acceptor (DA) system using ab-initio DFT and INDO methods. In these systems, DFT calculations along with INDO-SCI calculation, show strong intramolecular charge transfer interaction between the D and the A units. We have further calculated various properties like permanent dipole moments, oscillator strengths, Stoke’s shifts in various solvents etc. In chapter six, we focus on studying linear and non-linear optical properties of first generation nitrogen based dendrimers, using DMRG method. A novel scheme which includes the weights of the dipole allowed states in the computation of the density matrix is developed to obtain accurate dipole allowed excited states as well as the linear and nonlinear optical responses. Chapter seven deals with non-linear optical properties of weak donor-acceptor (DA) complexes formed between methyl substituted phenylenes (donor) and Chloranil or DDQ (acceptors). We have calculated the ground and the low-lying excited states of these DA complexes using INDO-SDCI method. The first hyperpolarizability (β) response coefficients are calculated using the Correction Vector (CV) technique, which are further used to obtain macroscopic depolarization ratios. By comparing the theoretical results with experimental findings, it can be shown that the slipped parallel configuration with a slight twist is the most preferred geometry of these weak DA complexes in solution.

Chapter 1: Amphiphilic self-assembled systems as nanocarriers Nanocarriers are the nanometric size molecular assemblies that are used for the transport of small molecules into their non-solvating environments. These systems find major applications as drug delivery systems (DDS) in pharmacological research. These drug delivery systems improves solubility and stability of the drug molecules through encapsulation and also offer additional advantages like target specificity and stimuli responsive release of the drug molecules. Several types of DDS are reported in the literature, which can be prepared by a variety of processing techniques. Of these, molecular self- Chart 1: Developments in the design of amphiphilic nanocarriers assembly has attained considerable attention due to its greater tunability and control in the preparation of nanocarriers. In this chapter we discussed about the amphiphilic nanocarriers which are prepared through self-assembly of amphiphiles through hydrophobic interactions. Several developments in the area of amphiphilic nanocarriers such as di-block polymeric systems, dendritic systems and core-shell architectures are also mentioned. We also highlighted some recent developments in the design of amphiphilic nanocarriers through supramolecular interactions and advantages of such systems. Chapter 2: Bile acid derived dendrons and their application as nanocarriers Host-guest chemistry is well known for dendritic systems. To understand the influence of steric crowding, dendritic effect and importance of number of hydroxyl groups on the bile acid backbone in the host-guest chemistry of bile acid dendrons, we designed and synthesized a new series of C3 symmetric systems and studied the above-mentioned objectives through extraction of polar dyes into nonpolar media. Dye extraction experiments performed using trimeric molecules suggested that only the cholate derivatives (3 and 4) showed considerable extraction of the polar dyes into chloroform; deoxycholate derivatives did not show any extraction, thus emphasizing the importance of the number of hydroxyl groups for dye extraction in these molecular architectures. The effect of steric crowding at the core of these trimeric molecules was shown by efficient extraction of the dyes with the triethylbenzene core (4) compared to the benzene core (3). Greater influence of the aggregates in the case of triethylbenzene core on the extracted dye was also manifested in the Chart 2: Structures of the designed molecules 1-6 value of the induced circular dichroism signal. Surprisingly, a higher analogue in these molecular architectures showed lesser efficiency in dye extraction (on a per bile acid residue basis) compared to the trimers, suggesting a more compact structure for the higher analogue. This was supported by molecular modeling studies. Generality of these systems as nanocarriers for hydrophilic dyes was investigated by screening several other dyes and polar molecules, which are diverse in their structure and functionalities. All these experiments suggested a dependency of the extraction profile on the size of the dye molecule. This was also examined by dynamic light scattering studies, which showed larger size and wider distribution in the size of the aggregates in the case of larger dyes. We also demonstrated selective extraction of a single dye molecule from a blended food color (apple green) using one of the trimer (4) and demonstrated solvent dependent morphological changes in these compounds using electron microscopy. The self-assembly of these amphilic molecules at the air-water interface was studied through Langmuir monolayer studies. Chart 3: Structure of polar guest molecules (Cresol red (7). Erioglaucine (8), Eriochrome black T (9),) phenyl β-D-glucopyranoside (10) and Eosin B (11) Chapter 3: Design and synthesis of bile acid derived surfactants: Study of their aggregation and potential applications Bile acids are facially amphiphilic systems and their amphiphilicity can be improved by attaching polar groups on the bile acid back bone or by synthesizing oligomeric systems which show better self-assembly compared to their monomeric units. To study and improve the amphiphilicity of bile acids, we designed and synthesized a new tripodal surfactant system, with a phosphine oxide based central core to which the bile acids were attached through the C-3 position using click chemistry. Our molecular design also offers added advantage of studying the influence of the stereochemistry at the C-3 position on the aggregation of these molecular architectures. We synthesized trimeric systems with both cholic and deoxycholic acids attached to the central phosphine oxide core with α and β stereochemistry at the C-3 position. Aggregation of these molecules was studied by surface tension measurements, dye extraction studies and NMR. All these compounds showed aggregation at micromolar concentrations. NMR studies suggested changes in the structure of the aggregates at higher temperature and these changes were studied by DLS, which suggested thermodynamically stable monodispersed aggregates for cholic acid derivatives (13 and 15) at higher temperature. These aggregates are stable even after cooling to room temperature and with time. The aggregates of these derivatives were also characterized by atomic force microscopy. Gelation was observed in the case of α derivatives (12 and 13) in phosphate buffer (0.1 M) at pH 7.5 for both deoxy and cholic derivatives, which emphasized the influence of stereochemistry at C-3 position in these architectures. These gels were characterized by rheology experiments. Finally, the possible utility of these micellar systems as model systems to study photophysical processes was demonstrated through lanthanide sensitization experiments in these micellar solutions. Chart 4: Structure of the designed molecules Chapter 4: Synthesis of oligomeric bile acid-taurine conjugates: Study of their aggregation and efficiency in cholesterol solubilization Bile acids are bio-surfactants that are used for the emulsification of fats, vitamins etc. in our body. Bile salts also solubilize the excess cholesterol in our body through mixed micelle formation in the bile and when the bile gets saturated with cholesterol, it leads to cholesterol gallstone formation, which needs to be treated. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is used as drug in some cases for the solubilization of (small) cholesterol gallstones, even though the efficiency to solubilize cholesterol is less for UDCA compared to the other bile acids (UDCA is less toxic than the others). So there is a need to develop new cholesterol solubilizing agents. Since oligomeric systems can aggregate better, we designed and synthesized two tetramer taurine conjugates, which differ in the spacer between the bile acid units. Since these conjugates are not soluble in water, their solubility and aggregation was studied in 10% MeOH/Water using pyrene fluorescence experiments. Aggregation studies suggested better aggregation for these molecules compared to their monomeric analogues. These aggregates were also characterized byDLS and electron microscopy. These systems were subsequently studied as nanocarriers for liphophilic dye molecules into aqueous media. Finally, the influence of oligomeric effect in cholesterol solubilization was investigated by cholesterol solubilization studied using these two tetramer taurine compounds and a control, sodium taurocholate. These studies suggested efficient solubilization of cholesterol by oligomers compared to monomeric analogues.(For structural formula pl see the abstract file)