Presentation
Located on the Esplanade campus, the Chemistry of Complex Matter Joint Research Unit (Unité mixte de recherche Chimie de la matière complexe, UMR 7140) is affiliated to the University of Strasbourg and the CNRS, as well as to the Faculty of Chemistry and the Doctoral School of Chemical Sciences (ED 222). The unit's multidisciplinary nature is expressed by its leading research activities in molecular and supramolecular chemistry, chemoinformatics and modelling, analytical chemistry and the physical chemistry of complex molecules.
The unit comprises seven teams and around 70 staff: researchers and teacher-researchers, doctoral and post-doctoral students, and technical and administrative staff.
In molecular chemistry, the laboratory has renowned expertise in the synthesis of ligands for the formation of MOF-type materials for energy storage, for example, in molecular cages, the development of supramolecular coordination chemistry of titanium (IV), as well as an approach using "green" solvents for the production of new MOFs.
In physical and analytical chemistry, optical spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and electrochemistry methods are being developed for the study of biological systems. Finally, in chemoinformatics, we are developing new methods for structure-activity modelling, virtual screening and their application to the in-silico design of new compounds. In modelling, studies focus on complex systems (supramolecular self-assemblies, hydrogels, proteins) and neoteric complex liquids (ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents).
Research Topics
Molecular chemistry
Concerns the synthesis, characterisation and modelling of polynuclear complexes and extended structures (MOFs) based on transition metals including polynuclear titanium (IV) complexes.
Physical and analytical chemistry: mass spectrometry
Development of mass spectrometry to, on the one hand, improve the structural and dynamic study of supramolecular systems in biology (protein complexes) and, on the other hand, to enable the detailed characterisation of proteins by focusing on their chemical modifications.
Physical and analytical chemistry: bioelectrochemistry and spectroscopy
- Study of protein reaction mechanisms using vibrational spectroscopy.
- Use of nanomaterials to design direct electrochemistry on membrane proteins.
- Identification of spectroscopic markers of disease in biological tissues and fluids.
Chemoinformatics
- Development of artificial intelligence methods and tools for the design of new molecular structures and the modelling of their synthesis pathways.
- Molecular mapping approach for analysing and visualising (ultra-)large chemical data. Development of Generative Topography Mapping (GTM).
Systems chemistry
Designing and understanding systems where molecules do not act in isolation but in concert, leading to complex behaviours and emergent properties: studies of reaction networks and compartments, development of robotics for automated systems analysis.
Molecular modelling
Simulations of complex chemical systems in solution in order to obtain nanoscopic views of their structures and environments. These studies provide a better understanding of these dynamic systems, particularly in the context of molecular recognition, of transport, and of supramolecular organisation and assembly.
Major events and works
- C. Gosset-Erard, M. Didierjean, J. Pansanel, A. Lechner, P. Wolff, Lauriane Kuhn, F. Aubriet, E. Leize-Wagner, P. Chaimbault, Y. François, "Nucleos'ID: A New Search Engine Enabling the Untargeted Identification of RNA Post-transcriptional Modifications from Tandem Mass Spectrometry Analyses of Nucleosides", Analytical Chemistry, 51 (2), 1608-1617, 2023.
- P. Mobian, D.-J. Pham, A. Chaumont, L. Barloy, G. Khalil, N. Kyritsakas, "Circular heterochiral titanium-based self-assembled architectures", J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2024, 146, 14067-14078.
- I. V. Khariushin, A. S. Ovsyannikov, S. A. Baudron, J. S. Ward, A. Kiesilä, K. Rissanen, E. Kalenius, K. A. Kovalenko, V. P. Fedin, S. E. Solovieva, I. S. Antipin, V. Bulach, S. Ferlay, "Selective gas adsorption by calixarene-based porous octahedral M32 coordination cages", Chem. Commun., 2022, 58, 13628-13631.
- R. Maia, A. Fluck, C. Maxim, B. Louis, S. A. Baudron, "Enantiopure natural deep eutectic solvents for metal-organic framework chiral induction", Green Chem., 2023, 25, 9103-9108
- L. Yan, W. Zheng, E. Muller, P. Carl, T. Hermans, G. Monreal Santiago, "Timed formation and aging of complex coacervates using a volatile salt", ChemRxiv, 2024, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-2k85w
- A. Tropsha, O. Isaev, Al. Varnek, G.Schneider, A. Cherkasov, "Integrating QSAR modelling and deep learning in drug discovery: the emergence of deep QSAR" Nature Review Drug Discovery, 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41573-023-00832-0
- Y. El Khoury, A. Schirer, A., C. Patte-Mensah, C., Klein, L., Meyer, L., M., Rataj-Baniowska, S., Bernad, D., Moss, S. Lecomte, A.G. Mensah-Nyagan, P. Hellwig, "Raman Imaging Reveals Accumulation of Hemoproteins in Plaques from Alzheimer's Diseased Tissues", ACS Chem Neurosci., 2021, 12(15):2940-2945.
- A. Grauel, J. Kägi, T. Rasmussen, I. Makarchuk, S. Oppermann, A. Moumbock, D. Wohlwend, R, Müller, F. Melin, S. Günther, P, Hellwig, B. Böttcher, and T. Friedrich, "Structure of Escherichia coli cytochrome bd-II type oxidase with bound aurachin D", Nat. Commun., 2021, 12:6498.