Asymmetric Synthesis of Novel Unusual Amino Acids: Probing Biological Potential and Synthetic Applications.

Unusual amino acids are fundamental building blocks of modern medicinal chemistry. The combination of amine and carboxyl groups attached to a chiral central core along with one or two potentially diverse side chains provides a unique three-dimensional structure with a high degree of functionality. This makes them invaluable as starting materials for syntheses of complex molecules. The goal of the proposed project is using NiII chiral complexes to develop efficient methods for the asymmetric synthesis of enantiomerically pure new unusual (S)-α-amino acids containing different groups in the side chain radical, including fluorophores and structural fragments of biological active natural compounds. For the synthetic applications of synthesized amino acids will be investigate the reactions with carbohydrates to obtain glycosylated amino acids, which can easily serve as building blocks for the synthesis of glyco- or peptidomimetics and glycopeptides. As well as synthesize short peptides based on unusual amino acids to investigate the coordination abilities of them toward Zn(II) and Cu(II). The project is also aimed at performing the screening of synthesized compounds to identify biological properties. For the screening will be used in vitro and in silico methods․