Non-natural folded polymers (foldamers) display considerable versatility, and the design of such molecules is of great current interest. In this respect, peptidic foldamers are perhaps the best-characterized systems, as they populate a number of residue-controlled secondary structures, which have found various biological applications and have also led to the creation of nanostructured materials. This critical review covers recent developments related to diverse building blocks and modern foldamer design principles, such as the stereochemical patterning methods. The recent achievements concerning tertiary/quaternary structures and the self-assembling foldameric nanostructures are also addressed (176 references).

As a sustainable alternative for conventional batch-based synthetic techniques, the concept of continuous-flow processing has emerged in the synthesis of fine chemicals. Systematic tuning of the residence time, a key parameter of continuous-reaction technology, can govern the outcome of a chemical reaction by determining the reaction rate and the conversion and by influencing the product selectivity. This review furnishes a brief insight into flow reactions in which high chemo- and/or stereoselectivity can be attained by strategic residence-time control and illustrates the importance of the residence time as a crucial parameter in sustainable method development. Such a fine reaction control cannot be performed in conventional batch reaction set-ups.

Kynurenines are the products of tryptophan metabolism. Among them, kynurenine and kynurenic acid are generally thought to have neuroprotective properties, while 3-hydroxykynurenine, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid and quinolinic acid are considered neurotoxic. They participate in immunoregulation and inflammation and possess pro- or anti-excitotoxic properties, and their involvement in oxidative stress has also been suggested. Consequently, it is not surprising that kynurenines have been closely related to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis. More information about the less-known metabolites, picolinic and cinnabarinic acid, evaluation of new receptorial targets, such as aryl-hydrocarbon receptors, and intensive research on the field of the immunomodulatory function of kynurenines delineated the high importance of this pathway in general homeostasis. Emerging knowledge about the kynurenine pathway provides new target points for the development of therapeutical solutions against neurodegenerative diseases.

(2015). An overview of peptide and peptoid foldamers in medicinal chemistry. Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery: Vol. 10, No. 11, pp. 1163-1177. doi: 10.1517/17460441.2015.1076790