The chemical regulation of carcinogenesis.

Abstract

The work outlined in this thesis is concerned with the use of chemical agents in the prevention and cure of cancer. Under this generally broad brief, we examined three topics of considerable interest in this field at the present time. Firstly we investigated the role of three dietary indoles which have been shown to inhibit the induction of cancer by certain procarcinogens, in particular benzo[a]pyrene. In this work we prepared analogues of the dietary indoles with a view to ascertaining their mode of action and increasing their activity. Next we devised a synthesis of dendrodoine, a natural product extracted in small quantities from the marine tunicate, Dendroda Grossular. This compound was shown in preliminary tests to be of potential use as a cytotoxic anti-cancer drug, but because of its inaccessibility its chemical synthesis was required if its properties were to be fully investigated. Finally, we devised a new strategy in the synthesis of 6H-pyrido-[4,3-b]carbazoles. Although there has been a great volume of work carried out on these compounds over the last 25 years, there has yet to be devised a truly general synthetic route, which allows the function- alisation of these compounds at key points in their structure.

Date of Award	1985
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath