The main objective of the work was to develop a analytical method for the diagnosis of TB, and this was achieved in three parts.The first part was involved the synthesis of two oxygenated mycolic acids, a methoxy mycolic acid (I) and a keto mycolic acid (II). The successful synthesis of these mycolic acids led to the synthesis of the cord factors TDM (Ill), TMM (IV), TDM (V) and TMM (VI), which were used in modified ELISA assay as new antigens to detect TB-antibodies in serum.

The second part was involved the synthesis of thiolated derivatives (VII), (VIII) and
(IX) of methoxy mycolic acids. These compounds will be covalently attached to a gold surface so as to create a self assembled monolayer with antigenic roperties. It is expected that this will create a stable surface for the binding of TB-antibodies in diagnosis tuberculosis tests .. This will contribute to evelopment of a new biosensor as a rapid and accurate method for detecting TB infection.

The third part was concerned on analysing of TB positive and TB negative amples to detect TB-antibodies in patient serum using novel synthetic mycolic acids and their derivatives as antigens in modified ELISA assay, after determination of the
optimisation conditions of the ELISA assay. Higher antibody binding signals were
observed with cord factors. The sensitivity and selectivity for TDM (198) (80%, 87%), TDM (204) (75%, 90%) and TDM (254) (80%, 84%), respectively which showed good significant values in comparison with other synthetic antigens.