Dr. Kimberly De La Cruz and William Leonard ’24

The research, conducted in part by William Leonard ‘24 and Assistant Professor Ladie Kimbery De La Cruz, Ph.D., focuses on the decarbonylation reaction of amino acid-derived ketoacids.

by Sarah Murphy

Chemistry research conducted by a student-faculty team at Presbyterian College has been published in Medicinal Chemistry Research, a peer-reviewed journal that focuses on the publication of novel findings in drug design, drug discovery and mechanisms of action of biologically active compounds.

The research article, titled “Iron porphyrin-mediated production of carbon monoxide from phenylpyruvic acid: from potential therapeutic and diagnostic use to physiological implications,” was published in Medicinal Chemistry Research by Springer on July 7, 2024.

A team of researchers completed the work, including biology major and chemistry minor William Leonard ‘24 and Dr. Kimberly De La Cruz , assistant professor of chemistry at PC. Leonard contributed one of the key experiments in the paper, and De La Cruz served as a co-corresponding author. The work was done in collaboration with researchers from Georgia State University.

“We were investigating the decarbonylation reaction of amino acid-derived ketoacids using iron porphyrin complexes as catalysts,” said De La Cruz. “During the conduct of the research, we realized that the catalyst system we developed could also be used for phenylketonuria diagnostics.”

At PC, Leonard conducted experiments using proton NMR to determine the complete reaction profile of the decarbonylation reaction. His contribution to this work was possible thanks to the funding provided by PC Summers Fellow.

The ultimate goal is for this research and system development to be used for therapeutic applications, such as in inflammation.

For more information about chemistry at PC, visit the department website.