Shainaz M. Landge

Structure–Activity Relationships of Organofluorine Inhibitors of β-Amyloid Self-Assembly

A broad group of structurally diverse small organofluorine compounds were synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of β‐amyloid (Aβ) self‐assembly. The main goal was to generate a diverse library of compounds with the same functional group and to observe general structural features that characterize inhibitors of Aβ oligomer and fibril formation, ultimately identifying structures for further focused inhibitor design. The common structural motifs in these compounds are CF3‐C‐OH and CF3‐C‐NH groups that were proposed to be binding units in our previous studies. A broad range of potential small‐molecule inhibitors were synthesized by combining various carbocyclic and heteroaromatic rings with an array of substituents, generating a total of 106 molecules. The compounds were tested by standard methods such as thioflavin‐T fluorescence spectroscopy for monitoring fibril formation, biotinyl Aβ1–42 single‐site streptavidin‐based assays for observing oligomer formation, and atomic force microscopy for morphological studies. These assays revealed a number of structures that show significant inhibition against either Aβ fibril or oligomer formation. A detailed analysis of the structure–activity relationship of anti‐fibril and ‐oligomer properties is provided. These data present further experimental evidence for the distinct nature of fibril versus oligomer formation and indicate that the interaction of the Aβ peptide with chiral small molecules is not stereospecific in nature.

Enantioselective Friedel-Crafts Reaction of Indoles with Trifluoroacetaldehyde Catalyzed by Cinchona Alkaloids

The first direct asymmetric synthetic preparation of trifluoro-1-(indol-3-yl)ethanols (TFIEs) is described by an enantioselective organocatalytic method from indoles and inexpensive trifluoroacetaldehyde methyl hemiacetal. The reaction is catalyzed by hydroquinine to produce TFIEs in an almost quantitative yield and with enantioselectivities up to 75% at room temperature. The enantioselectivity is strongly dependent on the concentration of substrates and catalyst due to the competitive noncatalyzed reaction.