Peter Evans

• MChem (Hons) Chemistry
• Unnatural Beta-Amino Acids for the Synthesis of Anticancer Natural Products Dolostatin and Homodolostatin 16

The naturally occurring molecules dolostatin was discovered in 1997 from a small sea creature know as Dolabella auricularia. Dolostatin and the related molecule homodolostatin 16 are very potent inhibitors of cancer cell growth and could be used as anti cancer drugs. However production of dolostatin through by harvesting wild Dolabella auricularia is ecologically unsustainable. Therefore new methods for the production of these molecules using synthetic chemistry are needed to allow enough material to be produced for further study. This project will focus on the chemical synthesis of the key amino acid building blocks required to make dolostatin 16.

Funding Source: Newcastle University