Peptidomimetic antibiotics target outer-membrane biogenesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Antibiotics with new mechanisms of action are urgently required to combat the growing health threat posed by resistant pathogenic microorganisms. We synthesized a family of peptidomimetic antibiotics based on the antimicrobial peptide protegrin I. Several rounds of optimization gave a lead compound that was active in the nanomolar range against Gram-negative Pseudomonas spp.

Ortho-lithiation of free ferrocenyl alcohols: a new method for the synthesis of planar chiral ferrocene derivatives.

An ortho-metalation method for free ferrocenyl alcohols has been developed, which allows preparation of planar chiral ferrocene derivatives with high yields and diastereoselectivities.

Natural and synthetic iminosugars as carbohydrate processing enzyme inhibitors for cancer therapy.

Iminosugars, featuring a basic nitrogen at the hetero atom position in carbohydrate rings, gain increasing interest in the search for novel approaches towards cancer drug development. This compound class is known as competitive inhibitors of carbohydrate manipulation enzymes, such as glycosidases, which are involved in tumor cell invasion and migration. Such enzymes are also responsible for the attachment of oligosaccharides to the cell surface of tumor cells, displayed as glycoproteins, glycolipids, and proteoglycans, which play an important role in malignant phenotype and tumor growth.