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Brønsted Acid Catalyzed Carbon-Carbon Bond Forming Reactions, Jiangyue Miao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this research project lies in the development of new methodology in the field of Brønsted acid catalysis enabling rapid synthesis of medicinally relevant compounds. It is foreseen that small molecule sulfonic acids evaluated in this research project will unveil new asymmetric carbon carbon bond forming reactions between substrates hitherto unexplored with Brønsted acid catalysis. It has been established that strong Brønsted acids, such as phosphoric acids, are capable of mediating highly selective transformations operating through unique mechanistic manifolds.

Specific focus for the sulfonic acid catalysts was geared towards asymmetric coupling reactions with synthetically useful precursors such as …

Relationship Between Tdp-43 Toxicity And Aggregation In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Martin Anthony Aguilar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Protein aggregation and inclusion body formation are hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). These neurodegenerative diseases share a common pathology in that all include accumulation of insoluble protein aggregates in the brain. TAR-DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) is the major component found in the pathological inclusions of two of these diseases, ALS and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin-positive inclusions (FTLD-U). This thesis focuses upon the biophysical basis for TDP-43 aggregation in S. cerevisiae. Current in vitro evidence indicates that TDP-43 is a natively dimeric protein and that binding to RNA inhibits aggregation. Corresponding …