Máster en Química na Fronteira coa Bioloxía e a Ciencia de Materiais

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10347/38124

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    Bond-forming synthetic chemistry promoted by bacteria redox potential
    (2025-01) Montoto Pintos, David; Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Centro de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e Materiais Moleculares (CiQUS); Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Mascareñas Cid, José Luis; Tomás Gamasa, María
    The development of non-natural, synthetic reactions that interact with the metabolism of living systems is an emerging field at the interface of chemical and biological synthesis. These reactions would give access to new sustainable synthetic routes for molecules of interest, and have potential applications in biomedicine and biology. In this Master dissertation, we demonstrate that the redox metabolism of live bacteria can be harnessed to promote non-natural bond-forming radical reactions. We show that the electrogenic bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR‑1 and the model bacterium Escherichia coli DH5ɑ can reduce aryl diazonium salts to promote the Meerwein arylation of naphthoquinones using electron transfer and radical chain mechanisms. We have also tested our methodology for the bacteria-promoted synthesis of benzothiophenes, opening the door to structures of biomedical interest. This work was carried out in the Centro Singular de Química Biolóxica e Materiais Moleculares (CiQUS) of the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) between September 2nd, 2024 and January 21st, 2025.
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    Towards antibacterial hydrogels. Synthesis, structural studies and biological activity
    (2024) Costa de Dios, María; Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Centro de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e Materiais Moleculares (CiQUS); Estévez Cabanas, Juan Carlos; Estévez Cabanas, Ramón José
    The controlled release of bioactive molecules and the encapsulation of living cells are active areas of research in drug discovery. Hydrogels are attracting significant attention in the medical field, particularly in drug delivery applications, due to their unique physical and chemical properties. This study focuses on the design and study of three new low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) derived from N-alkylamides derived from β-cyclohexanic amino acids. The study of their gel-forming properties was carried out by determining their minimum gelation concentration (mgc) in 14 solvents through a heating-cooling inversion test. Due to their potential applicability as drug delivery systems, the possibility of forming hydrogels was investigated, and it was only possible with two of the three gel-forming agents: Gt12-COOH and Gt12-NHNH2. These two hydrogels underwent structural studies using Infrared, X-ray and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to further understand their supramolecular organization and three-dimensional structures. Additionally, they were subjected to studies on the release of a model antibiotic, Ampicillin. These studies determined that the Gt12-COOH hydrogel formed with D-gluconolactone (GdL) established temporal control in drug release, prolonging its activity over time and positioning itself as a promising candidate for drug delivery applications. To conclude, the activity of both hydrogels was studied in biological cultures. A surprising inhibitory effect in the negative control of Gt12-COOH-GdL led to the consideration of various hypotheses regarding its interaction with different bacterial strains in the study. This antibacterial activity was ultimately linked to a tendency towards filamentation, observed exclusively in Gram-negative microorganisms.