Director of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility  phone: (787) 832-4040 ext. 2524 email: enrique.melendez@upr.edu office: Q-272G Lab: Q-311/313 website: http://www.uprm.edu/emelendez_research https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8466-6170

RESEARCH INTERESTS: BioInorganic/BioOrganometallic Chemistry and Its Applications​ My research work entails the design of metal-based drugs and  biosensors. On the first project, new metallocene drugs for target specific tumors are developed as tools for treating hormone dependent cancers such as breast, ovarian and prostate. To achieve this, steroidal hormones (estrogen, androgen and progesterone derivatives) are attached as pendant (functional) groups to the corresponding metallocenes aimed to be recognized by the hormone receptors.  The new species are characterized by IR, Raman, NMR spectroscopy, electrochemistry and X-ray diffraction.  The mechanistic aspects of these species are studied by spectroscopic methods such as NMR, ​UV-Vis, Fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman, and ​Molecular Modeling techniques.  The second project involves the development of electrochemical biosensors. The principal objective of this work is to develop an electrochemical biosensor based on gold nanostructure electrode functionalized with aptamers to detect substrate such as glucose, metal ions, food and soil contaminants.  The characterization of the surface of these electrodes is performed Atomic Force Microscopy, STEM, Raman, electrochemistry and Confocal Microscopy. The third project involves the design of Gold Nanoparticles (Au-NPs) with applications in photothermal therapy as potential drugs in cancer research.  Gold Nanoparticles of different shapes are conjugated to molecules that can recognize cancer cells and potentiate the intrinsic anti-cancer activity of Au-NPs. SERVICE AS REVIEWER​ Journal Biological Inorganic Chemistry, Journal Organometallic Chemistry, Dalton Transactions, Metal Based Drugs, Journal Inorganic Biochemistry, Inorganica Chimica Acta, Organometallics, European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Journal of American Chemical Society.  ​ SERVICE IN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC REVIEW PANELS and PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:​ . National Science Foundation 1996, 2001, 2008.​ . Israel National Science Foundation 2010, 2018,2023​ . Italian Higher Council for Science 2011​ . Industry-University (INDUNIV) Research Center 1992-97.​ . American Chemical Society, Puerto Rico Section, 2001-2003, 2010.​ . Chez Science Foundation 2012​ . Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú 2014-2023 Selected Publications . Binding studies of ferrocene-steroid conjugates with human serum albumin as potential drug carrier using fluorescence spectroscopy and in silico docking approach.  Xiomara Narváez Pita and Enrique Meléndez. App. Organometal. Chem 2021, e6344.​ . Interaction of metallocene dichlorides with apohuman transferrin: A spectroscopic study and cytotoxic activity against human cancer cell lines.  Jorge R Güette Fernández, Xiomara Narváez Pita, Enrique Meléndez, Elsie I Parés Matos. Int. J. Mol. Biol. 2020, 5(3):79‒109.​ . Synthesis, and Structural Studies of 16-ferrocenemethyl-estra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,17β-diol and its Interaction with Human Serum Albumin by Fluorescence Spectroscopy and in silico Docking Approaches.  José A. Carmona-Negrón, José M. Liboy-Lugo, Alberto Santana, Rheingold and Enrique Meléndez. App. Organometal. Chem 2020, 34(4), e5483.   ​ . Synthesis, Crystal Structure, Hirshfeld Surface Analysis, and DFT Studies of 16-ferrocenylidene-17β-estra-1,3,5-triene-3,17-diol: Towards the Application of Ferrocene-Hormone Conjugates to Target Hormone Dependent Breast Cancer.  José A. Carmona-Negrón, Mariola M. Flores-Rivera, Alberto Santana, Arnold. L. Rheingold and Enrique Meléndez. J. Mol. Structure 2020, 1184, 382-388.​ . Synthesis, Structure, Docking and Cytotoxic Studies of Ferrocene-Hormone Conjugates for Hormone-Dependent Breast Cancer Application.  José A. Carmona-Negrón, Alberto Santana, Arnold. L. Rheingold and Enrique Meléndez, Dalton Trans. 2019, 48, 5952–5964. ​ . In silico Virtual Screening on Estrogen Receptor Alpha Protein Ligand Binding Domain for the Development of New Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators.  José A. Carmona-Negrón and Enrique Meléndez. J. Drug Des. Res. 2018, 5(1): 1064.​ . A molecular docking study of the interactions between human transferrin and seven metallocene dichloride.  Jorge R. Güette-Fernández, Enrique Meléndez, Wilson Maldonado-Rojas, Carlos Ortega-Zúñiga, Jesus Olivero-Verbel, Elsie I. Parés-Matos. J. Mol. Graph. Model. 2017, 75, 250-265.  . Molybdocene dichloride intercalation into zirconium phosphate nanoparticles. Barbara Casañas-Montes, Agustín Díaz, Cindy Barbosa, Coralis Ramos, Cindy Collazo, Enrique Meléndez, Clémence Queffelec, Franck Fayon, Abraham Clearfield, Bruno Bujoli, and Jorge L. Colón. J. Organometal. Chem. 2015, 791, 34-40.​ . Nanostructured gold dsDNA sensor for early detection of breast cancer by beta protein 1 (BP1). Wanda I. Pérez, Yarelis Soto, Jaime- E. Ramirez-Vick, Enrique Meléndez. J. Electroanal. Chem 2015, 751, 49-56.​ . Ferrocenes as potential chemotherapeutic drugs: Synthesis, cytotoxic studies and micronucleus assay. Wanda I. Pérez, Yarelis Soto, Carmen Ortíz, Jaime Matta, Enrique Meléndez, Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2015, 23, 471-479.​ . DNA electrochemical biosensor for metallic drugs at physiological pH. Angel J. Santiago-Lopez, Jose L. Vera, Enrique Meléndez, J. Electroanal. Chem. 2014, 731, 139-144.​ . The addition of Pregnenolone Group Enhances the Anticancer Properties of Titanocene Dichloride in a MCF-7 Xenograft Model. G. Ramos, Y. Loperena, G. Ortiz, A. Szeto, J. Vera, J. Velez, J. Morales, D. Morrero, L. Castillo, S. Dharmawardhane, E. Meléndez, A.V. Washington, Anticancer Research 2014, 34(4):1609-15.​ . Water soluble molybdenocene complexes: Synthesis, cytotoxic activity and binding studies to ubiquitin by fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism and molecular modeling. Xiomara Narváez-Pita, Carlos Ortega-Zuniga, Claudia Y. Acevedo-Morantes, Belinda Pastrana, Jesús Olivero-Verbel, Wilson Maldonado-Rojas, Jaime E. Ramírez-Vick and Enrique Meléndez, J. Inorg. Biochem. 2014, 132, 77–91.​ . Functionalized ferrocenes: The role of the para substituent on the phenoxy pendant group. José L. Vera, Jorge Rullán, Natasha Santos, Jesús Jiménez, Joshua Rivera, Alberto Santana, Jon Briggs, Arnold L. Rheingold, Jaime Matta and Enrique Meléndez, J. Organometal. Chem. 2014, 749, 204-214.​ . New tungstenocenes containing 3-hydroxy-4-pyrone ligands:  Antiproliferative activity on HT-29 and MCF-7 and binding studies to human serum albumin by fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular modeling methods, J. Biol. Inorg. Chem. 2013, 18, 195-209  Book chapter​ . In Molybdenum: Its biological and coordination chemistry, Chapter 12 “Organometallic Molybdenum Complexes as Anticancer Agents” , 2012,  Nova Science Publishers, Inc., NY, USA.​ Patents ​ . US 8,101,783  “Ti-maltolate compound as antitumor agent for colon adenocarcinoma (colon cancer)”.​ ​