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Bio
Distinguished Chair group leader at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB) and a full-professor at the Dept. of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science of the Charles University in Prague. He graduated from the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague in 1993 and finished his PhD at IOCB in 1996. After a postdoctoral stay in Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, he joined the IOCB and started his own research group in 2003. He received numerous awards, including Praemium Academiae from the Czech Academy of Sciences and R. Lukes Prize from the Czech Chemical Society. His research interests include organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry, bioorganic chemistry and chemical biology and nucleic acids chemistry.
Abstract
Base-Modified and Hypermodified Nucleic Acids for Chemical Biology
The lecture will summarize recent results of the Hocek group in enzymatic syntheses of base-modified and hypermodified nucleic acids (DNA, RNA or XNA) and their applications in chemical biology, bioanalysis or imaging. Enzymatic methods for construction of nucleic acids with sequence-specific display of diverse substituents or molecules, as well as hypermodified nucleic acids composed entirely from modified nucleotides will be discussed in detail. Special focus will be given to the use of modified nucleotides in selection of aptamers.
Bio
Caroline Murawski is professor for biomedical sensor technology at TUD Dresden University of Technology, Germany, since 2024. She received a PhD in Physics in 2015 working on excitonic processes in organic light-emitting diodes, then joined the University of St Andrews, UK, for a postdoctoral position, and started a junior research group at Kurt Schwabe Institute for Sensor Technologies in 2018. Caroline now works on new biomedical sensor technology based on organic semiconducting materials.
Abstract
Organic semiconductors for flexible, biomedical devices
Organic electronics have major advantages compared to inorganic electronics in applications that require mechanical flexibility, patterning to specific shapes, and tunability of device properties. These benefits are particularly interesting in biomedical applications such as wearable and implantable sensors for tracking body functions and manipulating cellular activity.
Here, I will present the development of organic LEDs (OLEDs) and photodiodes (OPDs) as light sources and sensors for biomedical applications. The OLEDs are based on fluorescent, phosphorescent, and TADF emitters, which are selected with specific focus on high power output at low voltages. The emission spectra and angular intensity profiles are tailored using optical simulations. Devices are fabricated on flexible, water-proof substrates, patterned to sub-mm scale, and applied in optogenetics and fluorescence imaging as well as photoplethysmography at ambient light conditions and under water. This work presents major contributions towards engineering wearable and implantable optical devices for sensing and light-based therapy, which ultimately will advance the understanding and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
Bio
Dr. Line Næsborg is a Junior Research Group Leader at the Organic Chemistry Institute at WWU Münster, a position she has held since 2020. She completed her PhD at Aarhus University under the supervision of Prof. K. A. Jørgensen, focusing on the combination of organocatalysis and transition-metal catalysis, followed by postdoctoral research at Aarhus University and TU Munich with Prof. T. Bach on photochemical cascade reactions and total synthesis. Her work has been recognized with several prestigious awards and fellowships, including the Liebig Fellowship, the Thieme Chemistry Journal Award, and the 2025 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award.
Abstract
On the importance of the reaction medium for photochemical synthesis
The reaction medium can be key to induce photochemical reactions. A particular focus is given to aqueous micellar systems to provide unique benefits in photochemistry and photocatalysis. Here, apolar molecules such as oxygen are present in the inner core and charged or polar molecules such as a photocatalyst (PC) can be localized at the interphase. Through preferred localizations, non-productive encounters are minimized and oxygen quenching of a triplet state photocatalyst can be avoided. Based on this, oxygen sensitive photocatalytic reactions could be developed without the need for oxygen removal. However, controlled localization and compartmentalization can lead to further interesting benefits that are important in photochemical synthesis such as enabling complex or excimer formation. For example, we illustrate that a small organic molecule (chalcone) can exhibit excimer emission in the micellar system whereas no such emission could be observed in organic solvents. The phosphorescence was recorded at room temperature and has a surprisingly long average lifetime (19.22 μs). Interestingly photochemical reactivity was accordingly only observed in the micellar reaction medium and not in organic solvent.
The vision of the program is medium-controlled photochemical synthesis that unites physical understanding, reaction design and sustainable implementation.
Bio
Following undergraduate studies (Sorbonne Université), Amina Benchohra completed her Ph.D, in 2019, on the design of switchable hybrid materials based on magnetic molecular complexes under the supervision of Prof Kreher and Prof Lescouëzec (IPCM, Paris). She then undertook post-doctoral studies at Moltech-Anjou (Angers, France) on self-assembled materials for solar cells applications with Dr Goeb. After working on the design of Cr(III)-Ln assemblies for energy-transfer upconversion -as post-doctoral researcher and then as a junior lecturer- in the group of Prof Piguet (Geneva), she was appointed assistant professor at the Université de Bretagne Occidentale (Brest, France) in 2023. Her current research focuses on (multi)functional molecular materials.
Abstract
Tuning the luminescence of Cr(III) organometallic and coordination complexes.
Over the past decade, the quest of earth-abundant alternatives to the charge-transfer Ru(II) emitters has undoubtedly revitalized chromium(III) chemistry. Their intriguing properties - including a near-infrared (NIR) phosphorescence stemming from metal-centered spin-flip transitions, long-lived excited states (from µs to ms), and efficient sensitization pathways via either ligand-centered (LC), ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) or metal-centered (MC) excitations- are of interest for photonic devices, photocatalysis or energy conversion [1]. So far, the practical guidelines for optimizing Cr(III) emitters mainly drew on traditional coordination ligands (e.g.: bipyridine, phenantroline and terpyridine derivatives) [2]. This talk will describe the design and use of novel series of luminescent Cr(III) complexes relying on contrasted organometallic and coordination ligands.
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