- Head of Program: Prof. István Fábián
- E-mail: ifabian@science.unideb.hu
Coordination Chemistry
The program includes bioinorganic chemistry focusing on the thermodynamic and structural characterization of the transition metal complexes of amino acids, peptides and derivatives. Metal complexes of hydoxamate based ligands are the most promising molecules for the modeling and inhibition of metalloenzymes. Research on new MRI contrast agents is a rapidly growing area in this program. These studies are based on the equilibrium, kinetic and structural investigations of the lanthanide complexes of various macrochelates. Polynuclear complexes containing metal-metal bonds (e.g. Pt-Tl, Pd-Tl, Pt-Sn, etc.) also comprise a significant part of the program. The studies on the organometallic compounds of ruthenium and other platinum metals provide an insight into the structural versatility of these complexes and may contribute to developing new anticancer agents. Another research area covers the kinetics and mechanisms of environmentally relevant redox reactions. The catalytic roles of metal ions and their complexes are of particular significance in many of these systems.
Environmental Instrumental and Analytical Chemistry
In this program, students participate in several courses on instrumental or environmental chemistry and they are involved in research activities on numerous modern topics that are pursued at our institute. The three main research areas are as follows: i) elemental and speciation analysis in environmental samples, ii) developing electromigration separation techniques in capillary and microfluidic devices and iii) bioanalyis with chromatographic methods. These research topics include basic research aspects like studies of thermic decomposition of compounds with a newly developed technique, “thermospectrometry” or designing microfluidic chips applicable for ultrafast separation. The instrumentation includes commercially available sophisticated equipments and locally developed modern devices for the determinations of elements, inorganic ions, pharmaceuticals and proteins in a large variety of environmental and clinical samples.