In this thesis Colm Duffy reviews the chemistry and biology of stable lipoxin analogues. Colm has prepared for the first time ever a pyridine-containing LXA4 analogue in enantiomerically pure form. Biological evaluation determined that both epimers at the benzylic position suppress key cytokines known to be involved in inflammatory disease, with the (R)-epimer proving most efficacious. Moreover the author developed an excellent route to a related thiophene-containing analogue that also showed interesting biological activity. Both routes have inspired further work in the synthesis of further heteroaromatic analogues for biological evaluation.

Inhalt
Introduction.- Recent advances in the chemistry and biology of stable synthetic Lipoxin analogues.- Synthesis of Heck coupling partner for the preparation of heteroaromatic Lipoxin A4 analogues.- Synthesis and biological evaluation of pyridine-containing Lipoxin A4 analogues.- Thiophene-containing Lipoxin A4 analogues: synthesis and their effect on the production of key cytokines.- Towards the synthesis of various heteroaromatic Lipoxin A4 analogues.