Accessing the therapeutic potential of carbon monoxide. Despite carbon monoxide being regarded as the ”silent killer”, it is now established that this molecule has beneficial effects for a number of conditions and pathologies, including inflammation, organ transplant rejection, bacterial infection, acute liver failure and as an aid in cancer therapies. This project proposes to explore the photochemistry of rhenium-containing species to discover more efficient carbon monoxide delivery agents. By ....Accessing the therapeutic potential of carbon monoxide. Despite carbon monoxide being regarded as the ”silent killer”, it is now established that this molecule has beneficial effects for a number of conditions and pathologies, including inflammation, organ transplant rejection, bacterial infection, acute liver failure and as an aid in cancer therapies. This project proposes to explore the photochemistry of rhenium-containing species to discover more efficient carbon monoxide delivery agents. By combining synthetic chemistry, photochemistry and cellular biology it is anticipated that this multidisciplinary research programme will advance the area of carbon monoxide therapies by preparing safer agents for the targeted and controlled delivery of carbon monoxide.Read moreRead less
A new metalloprotein-inspired methodology for energy-efficient chemical reduction. Chemical reduction, a core process in chemistry and industry, is carried out on an enormous scale using present-day technology that is extremely energy wasteful and irreversibly consumes resources. This project aims to provide a new sustainable methodology for chemical reduction using sophisticated bio-inspired metal (electro) catalysts.
Understanding biological nitrogen fixation: an investigation of multi-electron reduction catalysis at novel iron-sulfur clusters. A new class of iron-sulfur clusters held together by a central light atom will be prepared and their reactions thoroughly studied. These clusters are important because they will have the same structure as the iron-molybdenum cluster of the enzyme nitrogenase. This enzyme fixes atmospheric nitrogen as ammonia. It is the primary route of nitrogen entry into all living s ....Understanding biological nitrogen fixation: an investigation of multi-electron reduction catalysis at novel iron-sulfur clusters. A new class of iron-sulfur clusters held together by a central light atom will be prepared and their reactions thoroughly studied. These clusters are important because they will have the same structure as the iron-molybdenum cluster of the enzyme nitrogenase. This enzyme fixes atmospheric nitrogen as ammonia. It is the primary route of nitrogen entry into all living systems. Industrially ammonia is produced in an energy-demanding process on a vast scale. The studies will provide insights into how nitrogenase works and how to design new multi-electron reduction catalysts. The research may lead to new energy-efficient routes to ammonia and to other new alternative fuel sources. Such processes would transform Australian industry and how we live.Read moreRead less
Development and Biological Chemistry of Novel Platinum Anti-Cancer Agents. "Rule-breakers", platinum anticancer complexes that do not follow the well established structure/activity relationships, have emerged as the way forward in the treatment of cancer resistant to the current generation of drugs and in reducing side effects. We have developed two new groups of "rule-breakers" and these have already demonstrated highly promising anticancer activity and novel biological behaviour. In this proje ....Development and Biological Chemistry of Novel Platinum Anti-Cancer Agents. "Rule-breakers", platinum anticancer complexes that do not follow the well established structure/activity relationships, have emerged as the way forward in the treatment of cancer resistant to the current generation of drugs and in reducing side effects. We have developed two new groups of "rule-breakers" and these have already demonstrated highly promising anticancer activity and novel biological behaviour. In this project we will (i) prepare new anticancer active platinum complexes based on these two highly promising groups of compounds and (ii) determine how these drugs work and what happens to them when in biological environments.Read moreRead less
Redox initiated chemistry of hydrogenase H-cluster model compounds: Biologically inspired hydrogen activation catalysts? High efficiency, low temperature, cheap hydrogen activation catalysts suitable for fuel cell applications would provide the basis for the development of environmentally benign technologies suitable for transportation and some power applications. Hydrogenase enzymes are high efficiency, low temperature, hydrogen activation catalysts and the active site of the all-iron version ....Redox initiated chemistry of hydrogenase H-cluster model compounds: Biologically inspired hydrogen activation catalysts? High efficiency, low temperature, cheap hydrogen activation catalysts suitable for fuel cell applications would provide the basis for the development of environmentally benign technologies suitable for transportation and some power applications. Hydrogenase enzymes are high efficiency, low temperature, hydrogen activation catalysts and the active site of the all-iron version of the enzyme has recently been revealed to be a remarkable, weakly protein bound, iron-sulfur-carbonyl-cyanide complex. Research into the reactions of redox activated abiological model compounds will provide insights into the molecular basis of the enzymatic reaction, potentially leading to the discovery of highly efficient, biologically inspired hydrogen activation catalysts.Read moreRead less