In-Person Meeting of the Princeton ACS Section
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Rashanique Quarels, PhD
Rowan University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
“New Approach to Synthesis of the Vancomycin
Linear Heptapeptide”
Frick Chemistry Laboratory, Princeton University
Mixer 7:00 pm; Lecture 7:30 pm
Abstract: Antibiotic resistance is a major public health concern. Antibiotics are extremely effective in eradicating infectious diseases that until the 1930s had proven to be lethal. However, the occurrence of drug-resistant, disease-causing bacteria has become more acute over the past six decades. A growing number of bacterial infections have become harder to treat, with first-line antibiotics leading to longer hospital stays and necessitating the use of secondary and tertiary antibiotics. This has led to an increased resistance to last-resort antibiotics (i.e., vancomycin, carbapenem, and colistin). The immense need for effective antibiotics can be addressed by developing new therapeutic agents or modifying existing ones. Modifications of vancomycin-class antibiotics have created innovation in therapeutic development but require unsustainable synthetic effort. The strategy presented combines umpolung amide synthesis to avoid epimerization of necessary aryl glycine stereocenters and traditional amide. These conditions are highly desirable and can innovate therapeutic design of glycopeptides and related derivatives.
Biography: Professor Quarrels received her PhD in Chemistry from Louisiana State University in 2017, and held a postdoctoral position at Vanderbilt University 2017-2020. Her research program at Rowan focuses on the development of new synthetic methodologies and the synthesis of biologically relevant natural products and derivatives as potential therapeutics. An area of interest is the development of unnatural glycopeptides with antimicrobial activity. She is also studying the composition of natural and unnatural amino acids in linear peptide precursors to antibiotics. Another area of intense focus is on studying the effects of fluorination on morphine derivatives. The aim is to improve drug efficacy while potentially reducing dependence
Her most recent honors and awards include the Chancellor’s Academic Pathways Postdoctoral Fellowship, Vanderbilt University, 2017-2020; Penn Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship for Academic Diversity, University of Pennsylvania, 2017 (declined) and the NSF LS-AMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship, Louisiana State University, 2012-2014.
Parking: Parking for Frick Chemistry Building is now in the new Stadium Parking Garage off Faculty Road. Parking is free, but visitors must follow directions to register their license plates at one of the stations in the garage. (Charging stations for EVs are available for a fee.) For additional information about parking and visiting campus, see http://www.princeton.edu/main/visiting/.
Registration: Attendance is free but registration is required. To register, please complete the form below. Note: Confirmation of your registration will appear on this screen once registration is complete.