Supramolecular Organic and Organometallic Chemistry Centre

Supramolecular chemistry and, in particular, dynamic constitutional chemistry (DCC), has developed as a new transdisciplinary research field. There are three main research areas that use the principles of DCC: (a) identification of bioactive substances; (b) the development of dynamic materials; (c) design of synthetic receptors. Herein, we propose to use the various concepts of the supramolecular chemistry, DCC and biochemistry for identification of new dynamic, selective and adaptative molecular receptors for biologically active compounds. Despite the significance of the π-stacking interactions and/or hydrogen bonding for the molecular recognition of biological receptors, less attention has been paid to their use for the identification and amplification of selective synthetic receptors. The project main goal is to use a biologically active compound for the induced selection and amplification of the fittest receptor from a dynamic constitutional library (DCL) of potential receptors, making use of subunits capable of molecular recognition through π-stacking interactions and/or hydrogen bonding between the receptor and the biologically active compound (host-guest complex). To build the DCLs, we turned to the acylhydrazone exchange reaction due to its chemoselectivity, pH-control and reversibility. Once the DCLs equilibrium is reached, the guest molecule (bioactive substance) is added and this will generate amplification of the best binder. Identification, isolation and analysis of the fittest receptor for the guest molecule will then follow. The project also proposes identification of the selective receptors for biologically active compounds in aqueous medium in order to improve their activity under physiological conditions.