Michael Reichel

Head of the Research Group

PD Dr. Sukhdeep Singh

Email

Phone: +49 3677 69 - 3685
Fax: +49 3677 69 - 3379

Heliosbau
Room 2111

Nadine Wolf

Isabel Eulenberger

Topic:

Harnessing the wasted carbonyl from polycarbonate during the upcycling to "drug-like" molecules. A sustainable chemical approach.

 

Plastics are versatile materials, offering lightweight, durable, and affordable solutions across various industries. However, their non-degradable nature poses challenges by the end of their life cycle. We developed an innovative carbonyl extraction method to utilize waste poly(bisphenol A carbonate) (PC) as reaction precursor to synthesize various fine chemicals with their utility in medicine. The research task of this master thesis is to promote sustainability by repurposing the use of waste polycarbonate as carbonyl equivalent under green conditions. Furthermore, a careful consideration would be given to design the molecule in Telescope reaction/one-pot reaction, so that use of unwanted waste can be circumvented. This work demonstrated a transition from a linear plastics economy toward a circular one, highlighting the potential of plastic waste as a resource for creating materials with improved properties.

IOI: I chose this topic because it combines organic synthesis such as recycling and sustainable drug production.

Hobbies: drawing, visiting music festivals, board games

 
Nadine Wolf

Konstantinos Demertzis

Topic:

Conjugation of the visible light responsive molecular switches to organic fragments derived from biopolymers, a step towards biorthogonal chemistry

 

To the best of our knowledge, the chemical properties of a cell membrane reveals the intricate chemistry of its surface that results from unique combination of various lipid, peptides and oligosaccharides. Therefore, altering the surface chemistry of a cell is a challenging task that require a high level of chemo selection under ambient and benign conditions. To solve this complex puzzle, various monomers of bio polymeric motifs present in the cell membrane has to be screened for its selection towards a specially designed organic reagent that change its properties with light. Developing such a biorthogonal chemistry that delivers photoactive groups on the cell membrane could open new avenues of research in the domain of photo pharmaceuticals.  

IOI: I chose this subject because it combines biology and organic chemistry. This subject has not yet been researched very much and therefore offers a lot of opportunities.

Hobbies: Astrophotography, volleyball, gaming

Ragini Nair

Topic:

Chemical modification of polymeric surfaces with tailored donor acceptor Stenhouse adducts

 

The material properties of a polymeric substrate are strongly influenced by their chemical composition. For example, the cross-linkers or plasticizers are able to tune the physical characteristics of the bulk substrate. On the other hand, post polymerization surface modification of the substrate offers to an elegant solution for obtaining hybrid properties those are otherwise difficult to create. In this master thesis, we are considering different polymeric substrate with interesting bio responsive characteristics and aiming at establishing intricate photo-chemistry on their surfaces. For this purpose visible light responsive donor acceptor Stenhouse adducts are explored as photo switch of choice.

IOI: I find surface functionalization to be a very intriguing theme. Being able to manipulate any surface to further achieve scientific goals, such as, inducing a desired bioresponse or inhibiting a potentially adverse reaction is something I would like to make myself familiar with. 

Hobbies: reading, dancing, photography, and painting.

Previous students

Miss Johanna Bohn:Investigations of cell adhesion behavior on photoswitchable polymers (Bachelor thesis)

Mr. Shizhan Ren: Design, synthesis and evaluation of photoswitching properties of homologous dimeric Donor acceptor Stenhouse adducts (Bachelor thesis)

Mr. Michel Große:Synthese, Funktionalisierung und Charakteri-sierung lichtempfindlicher Donor-Acceptor Stenhouse Adducts und deren Verknüpfung mit Polycarbonatoberflächen (Bachelor thesis)