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BioOrganometallic and BioInorganic Chemistry Research Group

Research Description


BioInorganic/BioOrganometallicChemistry and Its Applications

My research work entails the design of metal-based drugs and organometallic biosensors. On the first project, new metallocenedrugs 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.  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 and Raman. Molecular Modeling techniques are used to study docking interactions with hormone receptors.

                    3-Estradiol ferrocenecarboxylate (FcE2)                            ERα-FcE2 Complex

  

The second project involves the development of electrochemical biosensors. The principal objective of this work is to develop an electrochemical biosensor based on conducting polymers and nanoparticles to detect substrate such as glucose, metal ions of biological importance and proteins associated to cancer. The characterization of the surface of these polymers is performed Atomic Force Microscopy, STEM, Raman, electrochemistry and Confocal Microscopy.