Our laboratory is mainly focused around the development of new organic chemistry synthetic metodology. We are expecially interested in the utilization of non-traditional energy sources for the activation of small organic molecules – light, electricity and mechanic force. Currently, we are engaged in the following research areas:
1: Redox processes induced by mechanical force
Mechanical force can be easily introduced into the system – by means of well-established technology such as ball milling. Force can induce direct electron transfer between two species or separation of charges in a piezoelectric materials – driving redox processes.
2: Development of new photo- and electro- catalytic processes
Light and electricity provide us with cheap and renewable access to energy, which we use to activate organic molecules. Both of these energy sources can be easily tuned, providing us with great control over selectivity, while we access the unique modes of reactivity stemming from the single-electron transfer mechanisms involved.
3: Design and synthesis of new reagents for bioorthogonal chemistry
Bioorthogonal reactions can be used to study complex biological systems in vivo in real time. We aim at computer-aided rational design of new tetrazine-based bioorthogonal reagents with enhanced stability in biological environments. As the currently available synthetic methods to access tetrazines are lacking in selectivity and often have poor safety profile, we are also interested in research for better synthetic methods leading to substituted tetrazines.
4: Physical-organic chemistry as a tool in reaction development
Our laboratory has in the use of modern computational and spectroscopic methods to elucidiate complex reaction mechanisms. This helps us in the design of more efficient synthetic methods, but we are also heavily involved in several collaborations, where we help our collaborators to investigate the mechanistic details of their chemistries of interest.