[SCAN] Molecular recognition using synthetic receptors

Title: Molecular recognition using synthetic receptors

Speaker: Pedro Mateus 

Abstract: The establishment of non-covalent interactions between complementary molecules is a ubiquitous feature in Nature and is at the basis of almost every aspect of Supramolecular Chemistry. Pioneering research on this field focused on synthetic receptors for structurally simple guests. In recent years, significant advances have been made on how to reliably build suitably functionalized scaffolds with appropriate geometric arrangement of molecular recognition motifs to achieve strong, selective binding of molecules of increasing complexity. This is allowing the development of synthetic receptors capable of binding and/or sensing biomacromolecules, which offers a myriad of new possibilities to study and interfere with biological processes.

In this talk, I will give an overview of the development of synthetic receptors for molecular recognition purposes, present my past contributions to field, and describe some of my future research plans.