Molecular Sciences

The Molecular Science department hosts two independent research groups working in four broad areas of research: sustainable chemistry and catalysis, complex functional systems, receptor-protein interactions, and biotechnology.

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Molecular Sciences

We search for the development of new sustainable synthetic methodologies (metallo- and organocatalysis, cascade processes, chemistry in water) to gain access to new chemical entities endowed with new biological (pharmacological) annotations. We design new abiotic receptor-ligand systems for studying secondary molecular interactions with chemical relevance (catalysts) and/or biological relevance (receptors), and construct complex functional systems by use as pro-drugs or molecular sensors. We also study protein-ligand interactions using biophysical methods as ITC calorimetry or NMR and we develop new methods for the structural determination of small organic molecules.

We are also interested in the production and characterization of biopesticides (fungi and plants) by the means of biotechnological and chemical methods, and in the design and synthesis of conjugated vaccines for food poisoning produced by massive blooms of microalgae.

Department director: David Tejedor Aragón