• spinal muscular atrophy
• synthetic optimization of imidazole-based compound

The experimental work of my master thesis has been carried out at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Bergen (NO), under the supervision of Professor Hans-René Bjørsvik and within the framework of the Erasmusprogramme.
The work has been focused on the synthesis of the novel derivative, 3-chloro-4-fluoro-N-(5-(1-hydroxycyclobutyl)-1-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)benzamide, characterized by the presence of an imidazole residue and designed by suitably modifying similar compounds already developed in the Bjørsvik’s lab for the treatment ofSpinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).
In particular, the molecular scaffold of the previously obtained compounds has been modified through the insertion of an imidazole residue, in order to get to novel active analogues.
Insertion of an imidazole nucleus is an important synthetic strategy in drug discovery. Actually, this heterocycle represents an integral part of alkaloids and is present in a series of other compounds with great diversity in biological activity, which includes cytotoxic, antifungal,and antibacterial properties.
The relevant therapeutic properties of imidazole-related drugs have always pushed medicinal chemists to synthesize and test a large number of novel molecules bearing this heterocyclic residue, which has now become a privileged scaffold in medicinal chemistry.