In this thesis, we designed and synthesized multivalent and self-assembled small molecules to explore their potential therapeutic applications. We first focused on vancomycin because of its important clinical relevance and well-elucidated molecular mechanism of antimicrobial drug resistance. In Part I of this thesis, we reported the synthesis and characterization of dimers, trimers, and self-assembly of vancomycin and the evaluation of their antibacterial activities. In Part II, we extended the concept of multivalency and self-assembly to design other antibiotics and applied self-assembly of supramolecular hydrogels for exploring novel biomaterials. In Part III, the last part of this thesis, we described the exploration of multivalent systems based on metalloquinolates and summarized th...[ Read more ]

In this thesis, we designed and synthesized multivalent and self-assembled small molecules to explore their potential therapeutic applications. We first focused on vancomycin because of its important clinical relevance and well-elucidated molecular mechanism of antimicrobial drug resistance. In Part I of this thesis, we reported the synthesis and characterization of dimers, trimers, and self-assembly of vancomycin and the evaluation of their antibacterial activities. In Part II, we extended the concept of multivalency and self-assembly to design other antibiotics and applied self-assembly of supramolecular hydrogels for exploring novel biomaterials. In Part III, the last part of this thesis, we described the exploration of multivalent systems based on metalloquinolates and summarized the synthesis and characterization of a series of novel vancomycin derivatives and the exploration of their applications.