Page 8 - PERIODIC Magazine Issue 6

New Research

Sam Hare reports on some of the new, exciting research to come out of Oxford
University’s Department of Chemistry in the past year.

Claridge group metabolites present at each stage to be reliable indicators
of disease progression and clinical phenotype. This in turn
New diagnostic tests for multiple sclerosis
should assist clinicians in deciding the optimum choice of
therapeutic intervention.

Aldridge and Goicoechea groups
Reversing the reactivity of Aluminium

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease affecting the nervous
system where the insulating covers of nerve cells (the
myelin sheath) in the spinal cord and the brain are
damaged. The central nervous system links the entire
body, therefore a range of symptoms can be experienced,
meaning that the illness is hard to diagnose.
The latest research to arise from the Aldridge and
A collaboration between Professor Tim Claridge’s group Goicoechea groups has turned what we understand about
and the group of Professor Daniel Anthony of Oxford aluminium chemistry on its head. Known for their reactivity
University’s Pharmacology Department, together with as electrophiles (electron-poor species), aluminium
University clinicians and diagnostics company Numares compounds are often strong Lewis acids that are exploited
Health, is developing new diagnostic tests for MS. These for their reactivity with nucleophiles (electron-rich species).
tests use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy A classic example of this is aluminium chloride (AlCl ).
to detect specific signals in blood serum samples of 3
patients suffering from MS, which are subsequently Over the past five to ten years, much research has been
compared to databases of known metabolites, revealing carried out with the aim of modifying the reactivities
those which may be indicative of MS. of main group elements, such as aluminium. This new
chemistry hopes to enable main group elements to access
A number of biomarkers have been detected, such as the wide range of reactivities usually associated with
fatty acids, a major component of the myelin sheath that transition metals. In a paper published in Nature this year,
is broken down in patients suffering from MS. Changes through the work of postdoctoral researchers Jamie Hicks
in fatty acid levels in the blood relative to healthy controls and Petra Vasko, the Aldridge and Goicoechea groups
therefore indicate the presence of the disease.
have reported the synthesis and reactivity of nucleophilic
MS goes through four main stages (relapsing-remitting, aluminium species.
primary progressive, secondary progressive and “We’re hoping to create a whole family of aluminium alkyl
progressive relapsing) which are difficult to classify and compounds using nucleophilic aluminium,” Professor
can only presently be done so subjectively. However, Simon Aldridge explains. “There is also the possibility
these newly developed tests can detect the presence of using this chemistry in systems where the aluminium
of metabolites that are indicative of different stages of centre is bound to a transition metal. Through this we
progression.
could access co-operative reactivity, where the aluminium
The next stage of the research is to use this method on and transition metals both play different roles, leading to
larger cohort samples, in the hope that this will show previously unprecedented transformations.”
the test to be robust and the difference between the

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Periodic The Magazine of the Department of Chemistry