Dragojlovic, Veljko

The stereoselectivity ofthe Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and maleic
anhydride towards its exo adduct was improved in perfluorinated solvents, in comparison
to a reaction carried out in hydrocarbon solvents and a solvent free reaction. When using
FC-70, the reaction of in situ generated cyclopentadiene and maleic anhydride produced
exo- norbomene-cis-5,6-dicarboxylic anhydride and endo- norbomene-cis-5,6-
dicarboxylic anhydride in a ratio of 52:32 according to GC-MS analysis. In hydrocarbon
solvent, mesitylene, the ratio of exo/endo was found to be 23:52, indicating a more
kinetically-controlled reaction. Separation of the reaction products by radial
chromatography provided the endo adduct in 89% purity and the exo adduct in 47%
purity.

Bioprospecting, the search for useful compounds found in nature, has led to the discovery of novel drugs and pharmaceuticals. For my thesis research, I analyzed the organic compounds in the venom of Crematogaster vicina Andre, an endemic Jamaican ant. Prior chemical analysis of Crematogaster species revealed diverse, bio-active organic compounds, which included long chained conjugated dienones, furanocembranoid, and diterpenes. I postulated that these types of compounds are characteristic of the Crematogaster venom. I used Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), Sci-Finder database and SDBS database to test my hypothesis with C.vicina venom. I identified one bio-active organic compound of high abundance and similar characteristics of the organic compounds found in venom of the Crematogaster species from Europe: 1, 2 –Dihydro-4-ethylamino-1-methylpyrimidin-2-one, which I isolated as di (phosphate methyl ester).

Intellectual Disability (ID) is an increasingly common neurological disorder that causes intellectual deficients in cognition and behavior and is scientifically diagnosed by an intelligence score (IQ) under 70 along with the presence of two or more associated behaviors. A recent study showed that sporadic ID in humans was correlated with autosomal dominant de novo mutations in SynGap1.