| Part I. A new approach to drug delivery, based on the activation of a prodrug from a vesicular delivery system, is investigated. If successful, this new drug delivery system would have applicability, among others, in systems where the controlled release of medication is desired.; The model system for vesicular delivery consists of three components: (1) the drug-model, (2) the vesicle and (3) the enzyme. In general, the drug-model possesses a hydrophobic tail (that results in its partial intercalation into the lipophilic membrane) and an enzyme-cleavable polar head group (Figure 1).*; Our studies have indicated that by modifying the hydrophobic tail of the drug-model, it may be possible to manipulate the interaction between the enzyme and the vesicle-bound substrate.; Part II. Several long chain compounds and their short chain analogues were investigated for the presence of remote steric effects arising from the coiling of the long chains about the reactive sites. The systems were investigated by UV absorption and infrared spectroscopy in acetonitrile and THF, respectively.; Although these systems were designed to maximize remote steric effects, no significant differences in the reaction rates were observed between the long and short chain systems. ftn*Please refer to the dissertation for diagram. |
