Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

1-1-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. in Pharmaceutical Science

First Advisor

Dr. Sudeshna Roy

Second Advisor

Dr. David Colby

Third Advisor

Dr. Hoang Le

School

University of Mississippi

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

Fluorinated compounds have been routinely synthesized in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Approximately, 45% of drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2018−2019, and 52% of agricultural products between 2010 and 2017 were fluorinated compounds. In comparison to their non-fluorinated counterparts, fluorinated drugs have different pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics profiles. Bond strength and electronegativity of the fluorine atom can affect the compound's pKa, dipole moment, and metabolic stability. Therefore, methods to access fluorinated compounds are highly pursued in organic synthesis. Various fluorinating agents (nucleophilic and electrophilic) have been developed over the last few decades and are widely employed in organic synthesis. Fluorinecontaining building blocks are a practical method to synthesize fluorinated targets.

This thesis aims to extend the applications of fluoronitroalkenes as a fluorinated building block in 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition and 1,4-conjugate addition reactions to construct a variety of mono-fluorinated molecules. It is well established that fluoronitroalkenes undergo 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. This process has been successfully used to access 4-fluoropyrazoles in the presence of in-situ prepared hydrazones and acetic acid. Furthermore, fluoronitroalkenes also used to synthesize 4-fluoro-triazole analog of fentanyl, which are under biological valuation. Radioligand binding assay was conducted and showed a drop in the binding affinity for μ-opioid receptors.

The applications of fluoronitroalkenes have been extended to 1,4-conjugate addition reactions using organocatalysis. A conjugate addition is a method for forming carbon-carbon or carbon–heteroatom bonds. Using organocatalysis, trimethylsilyl azide served as a nitrogen-based nucleophile to create a carbon–nitrogen bond asymmetrically. At the present, our laboratory is optimizing this reaction under various conditions and catalysts.

Available for download on Friday, January 30, 2026

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