Research Area B
Cluster of Excellence livMatS @ FIT – Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies
Amide bond formation and hydrolysis: Developing adaptive and active materials Living systems possess an overwhelming molecular complexity that largely results from combinations of just twenty amino acids, which are the main building blocks of peptides and proteins. My work is to investigate the formation of peptides by using chemically activated systems. The overall aim of this project is to address a fundamental question in organic and supramolecular chemistry – the formation and hydrolysis of amide bonds or peptide bonds in water at physiological conditions.
In my work, I explored the roles of a series of protected and non-protected aminoacyl phosphate ester molecules in dynamic chemical reaction networks. I focused particularly on how structural modifications influence reactivity, assembly behaviour, and selective product formation under aqueous conditions. The research revealed how variations in amino acid side chains, such as aliphatic versus aromatic, affect supramolecular assembly, hydrolysis, and acyl transfer processes. Furthermore, I investigated the role of these phosphate esters in driving peptide elongation in water, demonstrating their ability to solubilize hydrophobic amino acids and facilitate selective, phase-dependent oligomerization.
Dr. Charalampos Pappas
Mahesh Pol successfully defended his dissertation in February 2025.
Dissertation: Developing Roles for Phosphates in Chemical Reaction Networks
Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Geneva, Switzerland (Winssinger's Lab).