 Professor
Véronique Gouverneur
Chemistry Research Laboratory
Telephone: 44 (0) 1865 275 644
Research
Group Web Site
One
of the main research themes of the Gouverneur’s
group is Fluorine Chemistry with an extensive research
programme aimed at developing novel synthetic methodologies for
the preparation of fluorinated targets. Fluorine can be highly
advantageous in pharmaceutical and agrochemical compounds as its
presence can dramatically alter chemical and biological properties,
including stability, lipophilicity and bioavailability. A recent
survey has estimated that as many as 30-40% of agrochemicals and
20% of pharmaceuticals on the market contain fluorine, including
half of the top drugs sold in 2005. As natural fluoroorganic compounds
are extremely rare, major advances rely heavily on synthetic organic
chemistry. In the group, we develop novel fluorine chemistry
for the preparation of fine enantiopure fluorinated building blocks
and drug-type targets. Our research programmes are designed
to build knowledge on how fluorinated stereogenic centres affect
drug potency and other performance compounds. The key synthetic
advance emerging from our laboratories is the demonstration that
organosilanes are extremely versatile precursors of a large number
of fluorinated targets such as fluoroalkenes, fluorodienes, propargylic
fluorides, allylic fluorides as well as fluorinated carbo- and
heterocycles.
 A major spin-off avenue of research resulting from our activities
is the preparation of [18F]-labeled radiopharmaceuticals suitable
for Positron Emission Tomography (PET), a non-invasive diagnostic
tool enabling the study of biochemical and physiological processes. With
a half-life of circa 110 min [18F], it is critical to develop
radiochemical methods featuring late introduction of the [18F]
substituent within the tracer. This chemistry is designed
with the aim of using PET to accelerate drug development. We
are also working on the synthesis of new tracers to image hypoxia.
This project is driven by the clear need in cancer treatment
for a non-invasive imaging assay that evaluates the oxygenation
status and heterogeneity of hypoxia and angiogenesis in individual
patients. Hypoxia imaging brings in information different from
that of the commonly use FDG-PET and could therefore play an
important role in oncologic imaging. This specific project is
carried out in collaboration with Professor John R. Dilworth
(Oxford, ICL). On the 24th January 2007, a new radiochemistry
laboratory equipped to handle PET and gamma emitting radioisotopes
was officially opened with all the necessary equipments to carry
out the synthesis of known and novel tracers.
Several of the projects carried out in the Gouverneur’s
group are supported by the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry
as well as leading companies engaged in imaging.
See
my research web site for update list of publications
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