Ceo, Luke2012-07-092012-07-092011http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/11012Spatial and temporal control of gene expression can aid in the understanding of gene function and cellular processes. Photo-labile protecting groups are chemical moieties that can be installed on a biologically active compound, blocking its biological function. Upon irradiation of the "caged" compound, the protecting group is removed "releasing" the now biologically active molecule. In this work, a Tamoxifen aziridine derivative was synthesized and attempts were made to link it to a coumarin-based photolabile protecting group via a variety of synthetic strategies. However, none of the tamoxifen coumarin compounds were successfully synthesized. The failure of linking the tamoxifen core structure to a coumarin derivative can be attributed to two reasons: 1) instability of the coumarin in basic conditions for sufficient deprotonaton of the tamoxifen phenol; 2) tendency of the electron-rich tamoxifen olefin to be unstable in acidic conditions.Gene expression.Genetic regulation.Tamoxifen -- Synthesis.Coumarins.Thesis