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The accumulation of iron in dopaminergic neurons can cause oxidative stress and dopaminergic neuron degeneration. Iron chelation therapy may reduce dopaminergic neurodegeneration, but chelators should be targeted towards dopaminergic cells. In this work, two series of compounds based on 8-hydroxyquinoline and deferiprone, iron chelators that have amphetamine-like structures, have been designed, synthesized and characterized. Each of these compounds chelated iron ions in aqueous solution. The hydroxyquinoline-based compounds exhibited stronger iron-binding constants than those of the deferiprone derivatives. The hydroxyquinoline-based compounds also exhibited greater free radical scavenging activities compared to the deferiprone derivatives. Molecular dynamics simulations showed that the hydroxyquinoline-based compounds generally bound well within human dopamine transporter cavities. Thus, these compounds are excellent candidates for future exploration as drugs against diseases that are affected by iron-induced dopaminergic neuron damage, such as Parkinson’s disease.

4-Chloroisocoumarin compounds have broad inhibitory properties against serine proteases. Here, we show that selected 3-alkoxy-4-chloroisocoumarins preferentially inhibit the activity of the conserved serine protease High-temperature requirement A of Chlamydia trachomatis. The synthesis of a new series of isocoumarin-based scaffolds has been developed, and their anti-chlamydial properties were investigated. The structure of the alkoxy substituent was found to influence the potency of the compounds against High-temperature requirement A, and modifications to the C-7 position of the 3-alkoxy-4-chloroisocoumarin structure attenuate anti-chlamydial properties.

Aqueous solutions of tetrachloroauric acid of high purity and stability were synthesised using the known reaction of gold metal with chlorine gas. The straightforward procedure developed here allows the resulting solution to be used directly for gold nanoparticle synthesis. The procedure involves bubbling chlorine gas through pure water containing a pellet of gold. The reaction is quantitative and progressed at a satisfactory rate at 50 °C. The gold(III) chloride solutions produced by this method show no evidence of returning to metallic gold over at least twelve months. This procedure also provides a straightforward method to determine the concentration of the resulting solution using the initial mass of gold and volume of water.