Heterocyclic molecules have been utilized by nature in various ways. It is therefore not surprising that heterocycles are found within molecules of great biological importance. Because of this, molecules that have heterocyclic substructures are oftentimes referred to as "privileged", regarding their abundance in biological systems and remarkable activity or affinity towards biological agents of great interest. Of particular interest to my research are molecules containing a quinoline core. The quinoline substructure is found in many anti-malarial drugs ⁱ, and has shown interesting binding properties to nucleic acid in a subcellular microsomal systems ⁱⁱ, as well as DNA ⁱⁱⁱ. Classically the quinoline core is generated via the Friedlander synthesis; however, this can become problematic due to the reactive aniline intermediate. Therefore, a "one-pot", softer approach should greatly improve yields and allow for synthesis of quinoline derivatives in a chemical system not compatible with strongly acidic or basic environment. To this end, I have developed a one step synthetic route to produce the quinoline core under soft chemical conditions ^iv.

Using this new synthesis of quinolines as a starting point, my research is geared towards three goals:

1. Development of combinatorial libraries of molecules using the quinoline substructure.
2. Shape- Diversity Oriented Synthesis (S-DOS) using a quinoline scaffold.
3. Multi-library screening of biological agents.

ⁱ Buller, R; Peterson, M.L.; Almarsson, O; Leiserowitz, L., Crystal Growth & Design ,2002, 2(6),553-562.
ⁱⁱ Tada, M. et. al: Chemico-Biological Interactions 1980, 29(3), 257-66.
ⁱⁱⁱ Osiadacz J., et. al. Bio-organic & Medicinal Chemistry,2000, 8(5), 937-43.
^iv McNaughton, B.R.; Miller, B.L., submitted