As part of the the Spring 2022 Organic Seminar series, on January 27^th from 11:10 am we will host a virtual seminar by three representatives from Pfizer’s medicinal chemistry team:

Heme is an essential cofactor required for numerous biological reactions in the vast majority of organisms, and its biosynthesis is a complex process. Three heme biosynthetic pathways have been identified, with the most recent being the coproporphyrin dependent (CPD) pathway. In the CPD pathway, coproporphyrinogen III is oxidized to coproporphyrin, followed by iron insertion into the tetrapyrrole, forming coproheme¹.

The demand of lithium-ion batteries is quickly increasing largely due to the increased production of electric vehicles.  This rise in battery production will lead to an equivalent rise in waste as these batteries are consumed and discarded.  Currently only about 5% of lithium-ion batteries are recycled¹.  This low level of recycling is in part due to the cost to recycle and the limitations of the current technologies available at an industrial scale.

Computational quantum chemistry can be used to gain insight into reactivity and simulate properties or spectra. However, conducting computational studies often requires using command line interfaces, which have a steep learning curve. A simpler alternative to command line interfaces is graphical user interfaces. Existing graphical interfaces are often insufficient to handle every task that one encounters during a computational study: building structures, setting up computations, viewing calculated properties, and creating publication-quality graphics.

Advances in mass spectrometry instrumentation and experimental design have led to significant inroads in the characterization of biological molecules like proteins and lipids, thus translating to new applications in the field of proteomics, lipidomics and structural biology. Ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) is a fast, higher energy ion activation mode that results in extensive and information fragmentation of molecules, and ion activation/dissociation can be accomplished using a single 5 ns laser pulse.

Graphene oxide quantum dots (GQDs) are a zero-dimensional (0D) nanomaterial of the carbon family that has attracted much attention in biomedical applications. Top-down and bottom-up approaches are used to synthesize GQDs.

Aptamers are ribonucleic acids (RNA) or single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) molecules that demonstrate high affinity and specificity for a wide range of targets.  These molecules possess several advantages such as good tissue penetration and are easily modified for increased stability and combination therapy.  Consequently, aptamers are used as drugs and diagnostic tools. Bioimaging, analytical reagents, and toxin/hazardous chemical detection are only a few of the other applications of aptamers.

Nature uses sequence-defined (having a precise sequence of units) monodisperse (same molecular weight) polymers for the data storage and transfer (DNA, RNA), for the control of properties and structure (proteins), for the efficient catalysis of various reactions (enzymes), and many more. However, these bio-macromolecules have limited stability and lack chemical and structural diversity. Current methods for the preparation of sequence-defined monodisperse polymers are usually based on solid support synthesis.

Glycosylation is an important and common post translational modification in proteins. Glycoproteins are proteins that carry one of more glycans covalently attached to a polypeptide backbone, usually via N- or O-linkages. One of the most abundant glycoproteins in human serum is Immunoglobulin G (IgG), a type of antibody. IgG is composed of four subunits, two identical light chains and two identical heavy chains, forming a structure with twofold symmetry. Both heavy chains have a single N-linked glycosylation site.

Surfactants are organic molecules that have surface active properties that reduce the surface tension of solutions. Surfactants can be found in marine water systems and originate from both natural and anthropogenic sources. These compounds are characterized by having a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail. This chemical structure causes surfactants to accumulate and orient themselves on the surface of the ocean in a microlayer of organic molecules.