THE TRAUNER RESEARCH GROUP
Overview: Natural products, such as morphine, strychnine, and tetrodotoxin, have played a crucial role in the development of synthetic chemistry and neuroscience. Using selected chemical syntheses as a framework, we provide an introduction to neuroscience for chemists blended with an intense course in synthetic design. The structure, function, and synthesis of some the following natural products will be analyzed: tetrodotoxin, saxitoxin, kainic acid, nicotine, epibatidine, coniine, tubocurarine, histrionicotoxin, ibotenic acid, strychnine, picrotine, chrysanthemic acid, ivermectin, muscarine, morphine, salvinorin A, THC, lysergic acid, forskolin, staurosporin, physostigmine, huperzin A, galanthamine, cocaine, reserpine, thapsigargin, ouabagenin, ryanodine, capsaicin, resiniferatoxin, retinal, carotene, menthol, santalol, camphor, and the prostaglandins. Some synthetic drugs, such as vixotrigine, suzetrigine, lidocaine, the benzodiazepines, the amphetamines, fentanyl, and eglumetad, will also be covered. The structure and function of important ion channels, GPCRs, transporters and enzymes will be discussed.
Goals: The goal of this course is to get as many synthetic chemists excited about neuroscience as possible (and a few neuroscientists stoked about chemical synthesis). The importance of structural and pharmacological databases (e.g., PDB and IUPHAR) and the usefulness of the Reaxys database (and SciFinder) and the Thieme Pharmaceutical Substances database for synthetic planning will be demonstrated.
Requirements: A familiarity with synthetic organic chemistry and (named) chemical reactions, a mastery of the Nernst equation, and a willingness to learn more about one of the greatest, if not the greatest scientific challenges of our times: to figure out how the human brain and nervous system work.
Lectures:
UPenn Chem 7451 - A Introduction
UPenn Chem 7451 - B Action Potential
UPenn Chem 7451 - C Synaptic Transmission and Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors
UPenn Chem 7451 - D Excitatory pLGICs
UPenn Chem 7451 - E Inhibitory pLGICs
UPenn Chem 7451 - F GPCRs Class A Aminergic