Research Focus

1. Research Focus General: Use spectroscopic and computational tools to study thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of different systems • Energetics and kinetics in Organometallic Chemistry. Relevance: Agriculture: Rational design of anti-ripening compounds • Is it possible to slow down fruit and flower ripening?

2. Anti-ripening control: Blocking ethylene action Some anti-ripening compounds: The most effective compounds anti-ripening are cyclic olefins. What is so special about them?? Burg and Burg, Science, 1965, 148, 1190 Sisler and Serek, Bot. Bull. Acad. Sin.1999, 40, 1 Lemmer, D. et al., South African Avocado Grower’s Yearbook, 2002, 25, 25

3. Anti-ripening control: Blocking ethylene action • An understanding of the metal-olefin interaction is important in designing anti-ripening compounds. • Why are cyclic olefins so special? Ring strain affects olefin-receptor interaction. • Are there any other effects? Is it possible to control the strength of the metal-olefin bond? Cedeño and Sniatynsky, Organometallics, 2005, 24, 3882

4. Research Focus General: Use spectroscopic and computational tools to study thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of different systems 2. Effects of molecular structure on yields of triplet state of oxygen photosensitizers. Relevance: Clinical: Rational design of efficient photodynamic therapy compounds and fluorescent diagnostic probes. Are there efficient ways to use light to treat diseases?

5. The Rational Design Approach Goal: Establish correlations between the yield of triplet sensitizer and active oxygen species and the molecular structure of the photosensitizer. Correlations will lead to improved sensitizers with optimum yields of triplet sensitizer and singlet oxygen Absorption Spectra Emission Spectra: Fluorescence yield Triplet energy Novel Photosensitizers (Prof. T.D. Lash) Triplet yield (PAC) 1O2 yield (Traps, TRF) Computational Methods

6. Applications: Treatment of Leishmaniasis