Royal Society of Chemistry Symposium

 

Lecture 1 (14:00-15:00): Prof Ed Tate (Imperial College) – "Interfacing chemistry and biology: protein modification, drug discovery and a greasy hedgehog"

Abstract: (Bio)chemical modification of proteins in cells regulates all biologically important processes, and gaining a full understanding of these post-translational modifications (PTMs) is a 'grand challenge' in biology. Since PTMs are not directly encoded at the genetic level, technologies that exploit the chemistry of specific protein modifications are required to unlock their scope and function. This lecture will introduce our work on the chemical biology of protein lipidation, and show how chemistry can deliver new ways to discover and profile PTMs in living systems, expand our understanding of their roles in health and disease, and validate drug targets in parasite and viral infection, and in cancer.

 
Lecture 2 (15:15-16:15): Prof Andrew Smith (University of St Andrews) – "Lewis Base Catalysis: Reaction Development and Heterocycle Synthesis"

Abstract:Lewis base-mediated reactions encompass a plethora of molecular transformations. Within this area, we have developed a range of catalytic (asymmetric) processes mediated by a range of Lewis bases. This presentation will describe recent developments in the use of isothioureas to promote a number of selective transformations that involve the generation of either an acyl ammonium, ammonium enolate ,α,β-unsaturated acyl ammonium or ylide intermediate. The application of these methodologies to the (asymmetric) synthesis of a variety of heterocyclic products and mechanistic insights into these processes will be discussed.