Synthesis of 3-C-(4-aryl-5-halo-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-galactosides: Probing halogen bonding in galectin-ligand complexes

Sammanfattning: The continued search for compounds exhibiting a better inhibition of Galectin-3 and -1 has been performed in this thesis. It has been shown that the Galectins are over-expressed in cancer cells and play an important role in inflammatory conditions connected to apoptosis (cell death). The focus in this research project has been to explore if halogen-bonding, which gives a hydrogen-bond like character, can be used to improve the affinity for binding to the galectins. Activity was also found in synthesized monosaccharides but not nearly as good as previously tested disaccharides. But the results are a good foundation for future research on developing more drug candidates which are monosaccharides.