Chemical and biochemical approaches for the design of functional supramolecular systems

为了实现生物系统的最佳能量、时间和催化性能，大自然开发了依赖于自组装、结构层次和单个结构组分的协同特性的非凡策略。这些策略激励我们进行生物启发研究，以创造分子和策略，遵循特定应用的生物学例子。我们的研究计划旨在对两个特定主题的功能系统自组装的潜在机制的基本理解：1)阴离子转运到靶细胞膜和2)催化中的非共价相互作用。基于我们在自组装、跨膜运输、有机和生物有机领域的强大专业知识，这些策略将用于生成智能超分子系统。***拟议研究计划的第一个主题包括开发特异性靶向细胞膜的阴离子载体。我们在现有专业知识的基础上，大力进入一个充满挑战和希望的新方向，我们将重点放在活细胞上。本小组开发的高效合成路线和不同阴离子载体家族的第一手经验，有可能产生新的化合物，揭示阴离子转运体的新应用，作为研究其在线粒体中的活性与其抗生素特性之间关系的工具。这项工作将产生新的方法来提供和靶向治疗。***第二个研究主题是超分子催化过程的发展，其中探索了新的功能/性质，用于设计新的特定任务的超分子催化剂。我们将运用在研究中获得的基础知识来确定和优化最佳的混合系统，以执行不同的金属催化反应，最终在水中。对复杂环境中生物活性和化学反应性的分子水平理解，将使精确催化应用的超分子结构的构建和应用成为可能。***拟议的研究计划的结果将导致对自然在进化过程中发展的设计原则的加深理解，将为超分子化学带来新的策略，并将显著加强我们产生具有先进特性的功能分子的能力。********

To achieve the best energy, time and catalytic performance of biological systems, nature has developed remarkable strategies that rely on self-assembly, structural hierarchy and synergetic properties of individual structural components. These strategies motivate us to conduct bio-inspired research to create molecules and strategies that follow biological examples for specific applications. Our research program aims the fundamental understanding of the underlying mechanisms in the self-assembly of functional systems towards two specific themes: 1) anion transporters to target cell membranes and 2) non covalent interactions in catalysis. These strategies will be used to generate smart supramolecular systems based on our strong expertise in self-assembly, transmembrane transport, organic and bio-organic areas.***The first theme of the proposed research program includes the development of anionophores to specifically target cell membranes. We build on our existing expertise and move forcefully into a challenging and promising new direction, in which we focus our efforts on living cells. Efficient synthetic routes and first-hand experience with diverse families of anionophores developed in our group have the potential to yield new compounds that with uncovered new applications of anion transporters, as tools to study the relationship between their activity in mitochondria and their antibiotic properties. This work will yield new ways to deliver and target therapeutics.***The second research theme focuses on the development of supramolecular catalytic processes, where new functionalities/properties are explored for the design of new task-specific supramolecular catalysts. We will apply the fundamental knowledge acquired in the studies to identify and optimize the best hybrid systems to perform different metal-catalyzed reactions, eventually in water. The molecular-level understanding of biological activity and chemical reactivity in complex environments will enable construction and application of supramolecular architectures for precise catalytic applications.***The results of the proposed research program will lead to an enhanced understanding of the design principles developed by nature in the course of evolution, will bring new strategies in supramolecular chemistry and will significantly strengthen our ability to generate functional molecules with advanced properties.********