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Review of Mechanistic Studies of Transition-Metal Catalyzed [2+2+2] Cycloaddition Reactions

The development of catalytic methodologies involving the formation of C-C bonds to enable the generation of cyclic systems constitutes a field of great relevance in synthetic organic chemistry. One paradigmatic process to accomplish this goal efficiently is the transition-metal catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloaddition reaction since it permits the formation of a wide range of highly functionalized

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PhD defense Adrià López

Tomorrow (28th of July, 12h, Sala de Graus, Facultat de Ciències) will take place the defense of the doctoral thesis of Adrián López titled “Aplicación de la técnica GPC al análisis de polímeros de interés industrial ” supervised by Miquel Costas from IQCC and Josep Nadal from Concentrol. We wish him good luck and all

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PhD defense Carles Fuertes

Next Thursday (23th of July, 10.15h, Aula Magna, Facultat de Ciències) will take place the defense of the doctoral thesis of Carles Fuertes titled “Supramolecular nanocapsules as platforms for molecular recognition and reactivity in confined spaces ” supervised by Xavi Ribas from IQCC. Those that you wish to follow the defense online, please click this link https://www.udg.edu/ca/ed/Detall-noticies/eventid/12454 and

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Michael Acceptors to Block COVID19 Virus Activity

Recently, Hilgenfeld and co-workers reported (Science 2020, 368, 409–412) that alpha-ketoamide-derived substrates act as inhibitors of COVID by targeting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease. Their crystal structure analysis provided the basis for an in-depth computational study by Albert Poater, Serra Hunter fellow at IQCC (Univ. Girona). His calculations based on Density Functional Theory provided the origin

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Rational Design of Bioinspired Catalysts for Selective Oxidations

The ubiquity and relevance of oxygenated motifs in biologically active compounds calls for the development of effective and selective C-H and C=Coxidation reactions. Inspired by the impressive selectivity and versatility of Nature oxidation catalysts, and especially nonheme Fe oxygenases, chemists have designed small molecule catalysts that can hydroxylate C-H bonds and epoxidize or syn-di-hydroxylate C=C bonds with

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In vivo selection for formate dehydrogenases with high efficiency and specificity towards NADP+

The development and application of a novel in vivo selection method enabled the testing of more than >106 variants of formate dehydrogenase (FDH) to switch its cofactor specificity in one single round of protein directed evolution, using multiple mutational sites selected based on previous studies and initial computational modeling. Due to this new approach, key

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Regioselective Prato-adducts of M3N@C80 (M=Y, Gd)

In this collaboration project between ETH Zurich, Purdue University Fort Wayne, and the IQCC (Dr. Adrià Romero-Rivera, Dr. Marc Garcia-Borràs, and Prof. Sílvia Osuna) the tris- and tetra-adducts of M3N@Ih–C80 metallofullerenes were synthesized and characterized for the first time. The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (Prato reaction) of Y3N@Ih-C80 and Gd3N@Ih-C80 with an excess of N-ethylglycine and formaldehyde

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Sílvia Osuna wins Catalonian National Research Award for Young Talent

Every year the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI), with the support of the Catalan Government, organises the Catalonian National Research Awards. These prestigious awards recognise and reflect different aspects of research, science communication and outreach. One of these awards is for Young Talent, in recognition of the outstanding effort of a junior researcher

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Carla Calvó wins poster prize at BioExcel Summer School

This week took place the Remote BioExcel Summer School on Biomolecular Simulations, in virtual manner, which included a poster session. Carla Calvó, PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Marc Garcia-Borràs and Prof. Sílvia Osuna, presented a poster titled “Unraveling The Millisecond Allosteric Activation of Imidazole Glycerol Phosphate Synthase (IGPS)”, and won the first prize, which consists of

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Cover JACS on the aromaticity of boron clusters

The Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) features on its front cover the recently published article “Too Persistent to Give Up: Aromaticity in Boron Clusters Survives Radical Structural Changes”. The work has been carried out by Francesc Teixidor, Clara Viñas, and Ines Bennour of the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Jordi Poater at

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