Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/C007247/1
Title:	Development of an efficient approach for the synthesis of LL-Z1640-2 and related resorcyclic lactones.
Principal Investigator:	Marquez, Dr R
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	College of Life Sciences
Organisation:	University of Dundee
Scheme:	First Grant Scheme Pre-FEC
Starts:	01 September 2005	Ends:	31 May 2006	Value (£):	111,054
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Chemical Synthetic Methodology
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The powerful compound LL-Z1640-2 was isolated in 1978, and it was originally classified as anti-bacterial agent. However, in the early 1990's major discoveries regarding its biological activities were reported. Some of these new discoveries included new and selective ant-tumour properties (i.e. can target tumours without targeting other biological processes). Interestingly, other compounds closely resembling LL-Z1640-2 have also been recentky isolated and they also seem to have very high potency against cancer processes. Unfortunately, none of these compounds (LL-Z1640-2, hypothemycin, 87-250904-F1, 7-oxo-zeaenol, zeaenol, and radicicol) can be isolated in large enough amounts from their natural sources to make them useful for development as cancer treatment agents.This low natural abundance makes a syntheses of these important compounds imperative if we are to benefit from its biological properties. Thus far, two research groups have developed a way to make LL-Z1640-2 in the laboratory. However, their difficult approach can only produce LL-Z1640-2 in very small amounts, after a long time and at a very high cost.We are proposing to take advantage of the structural similarities between all these compounds to develop a general and flexible way to prodice LL-Z1640-2, hypothemycin, 87-250904-F1, 7-oxo-zeaenol, and zeaenol 5. Our approach will be a faster, cheaper and more efficient way to produce larger amounts of material which would be of invaluable for the determination of their potential as anti-cancer drugs.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.dundee.ac.uk