The Garc铆a-L贸pez Research Group is advancing targeted drug delivery through light-responsive chemistry. In their new study, the team reports a photoswitchable rotaxane that changes shape in response to light and doubles membrane permeability, revealing new strategies for precise molecular control.
Chemistry
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海角社区 Chemistry is one of six departments in the College of Science and is designated as a Foundation of Excellence Department due to the outstanding accomplishments of our faculty, staff, and students in terms of teaching/learning, research, and service. Our department has 海角社区's largest Ph.D. program and is one of the best-equipped chemistry departments in the United States.
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Fighting Infections With a New Approach
海角社区 researchers are pioneering a new antibiotic approach to outsmart resistant bacteria and save lives worldwide.
海角社区 Chemistry Professor Mario Rivera and his cross-disciplinary research team are developing a new class of antibiotics that targets a part of bacterial physiology untouched by existing drugs. Rivera鈥檚 research focuses on blocking bacterial iron homeostasis, the process bacteria use to manage their iron supply, effectively starving them of the iron they need to survive. | Read More
Recent Publications
The Garc铆a-L贸pez Group reviews how molecular photoswitches enable light-driven motion in rotaxanes, paving the way for intelligent materials, molecular machines, and nanoscale electronics.
The Baranets Research Group reports the synthesis, characterization of structures and physical properties of three new heteroanionic oxypnictides, highlighting their potential for thermoelectric applications.
In a new study in the Soft Matter Emerging Investigators Series, the Xu Research Group demonstrates how micelle鈥損olymer coacervates can be tuned by simple dilution, spreading well on rough, water-repellent surfaces. Their findings point to promising applications in advanced coatings, adhesives, and delivery systems.
Near-infrared dyes are vital for bioimaging and therapy due to their deep tissue penetration and reduced background interference, with aza-BODIPYs standing out for their stability and tunability. The Vicente group synthesized new aza-BODIPY derivatives with absorption and emission between 678鈥�855 nm, demonstrating how specific para-phenyl substitutions precisely modulate absorption, emission, and fluorescence efficiency.
When X-rays knock out a core electron, they trigger electron motion that unfolds in attoseconds. The Lopata research group used advanced simulations to test whether the shape of the core-hole changes this motion and found it remains nearly the same across inner-shell orbitals, a discovery that expands opportunities for ultrafast X-ray experiments at the attosecond scale.
Coastal wetlands are vital for shoreline protection, carbon storage, and storm resilience; however, studying belowground root biomass and necromass is a challenge using traditional methods. A new paper co-authored by Prof. Les Butler demonstrates how Optical Coherence Tomography and machine learning can deliver fine-scale, non-destructive insights into root morphology and decay.
The Rivera Research Group presents a novel strategy targeting bacterial iron storage with small-molecule inhibitors. Disrupting iron mobilization triggers iron starvation, leading to potent bactericidal effects and improved outcomes when combined with existing antibiotics.
Zintl phases can convert waste heat into energy, but arsenic-based compounds remain understudied. The Baranets Group reports Eu鈧傗倎Mn鈧凙s鈧佲倛 and revisits Eu鈧傗倎Zn鈧凙s鈧佲倛, revealing key structure鈥損roperty relationships critical for next-generation thermoelectric materials.
The Pojman Research Team published a new study on using 1,1,2,2-tetraphenylethanediol (TPED) as a safer, shelf-stable alternative to peroxide initiators in the frontal polymerization of acrylates. TPED produces void-free materials, offering the added benefit of commercial availability and longer shelf life.