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Theodor Agapie
Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Our research will focus on developing molecular solutions to problems related to energy, materials, and health. Having nature as a source of inspiration, we will develop and study systems displaying interactions between multiple molecular centers (metals, Lewis acids, hydrogen bonding functionalities, etc.) to facilitate a variety of chemical processes.

From a small molecule perspective, we will target systems able to perform transformations important in organic methodology, new materials generation as well as in the context of the energy economy. Areas of interest include selective C-H bond functionalization, polymerization of polar monomers, and multielectron processes such as water oxidation to dioxygen and dinitrogen fixation. To attain these goals we will design and synthesize ligand frameworks that allow for the binding of several metals in close proximity. Hydrogen bonding networks and pendant Lewis acids will be built in if believed to be important for the desired transformations. The synthesized multimetallic complexes will be studied using a variety of spectroscopic tools to understand their electronic structure and its effects on reactivity. The lessons learned from these studies will be used to ultimately develop molecular catalysts for chemical processes of importance in today’s world.

In a biochemical context, we will study interactions and transformations involving bioinorganic molecules. One topic of interest regards the mechanisms of transition metal transport into the cell. Transition metals perform a variety of vital functions, but can also be toxic to the cell. The concentration of transition metals is therefore tightly regulated.  Important proteins in copper homeostasis, CTR transporters allow copper ion as well as cisplatin influx across membranes. The molecular basis for these transport processes is not understood, however. We will develop tools to study these transporters and their mode of action. Our strategy will involve the development of small molecule sensors for detecting, in vitro and in vivo, interactions of the membrane proteins with metal ions and chaperones. This approach will allow us to study the factors responsible for the selectivity for copper and cisplatin, as well as to determine the chaperones involved in transition metal delivery to and from the transporter. The lessons learned should have applications important for human health.