New Strategies for Modelling Polyoxometalates. Polyoxometalates are a versatile class of genuine nanomaterials with remarkable chemical and physical properties and dimensions ranging from tens to tens of thousands of atoms. Designing functional materials which exploit their enormous potential is limited by practical difficulties in their structural characterization and restrictions on our ability to model their behaviour. In this project, we will develop a new strategy for computer modelling of ....New Strategies for Modelling Polyoxometalates. Polyoxometalates are a versatile class of genuine nanomaterials with remarkable chemical and physical properties and dimensions ranging from tens to tens of thousands of atoms. Designing functional materials which exploit their enormous potential is limited by practical difficulties in their structural characterization and restrictions on our ability to model their behaviour. In this project, we will develop a new strategy for computer modelling of polyoxometalates based on the classical molecular mechanics approach and high-level techniques. This novel line of attack will be exploited in the characterization of large and highly substituted derivatives which are key to developing functional materials.Read moreRead less
Light-Driven Chemistry with Nanostructured Polyanilines. This project seeks to understand and exploit the rich photochemistry for an important class of electrically conducting polymers, namely polyanilines. Light stimulated electron transfer events will be employed in a wide range of exciting applications. The new fundamental knowledge gained will be used to design novel photochemical routes to functionalised polyanilines. The ability to produce solutions, films and especially nanoparticles of p ....Light-Driven Chemistry with Nanostructured Polyanilines. This project seeks to understand and exploit the rich photochemistry for an important class of electrically conducting polymers, namely polyanilines. Light stimulated electron transfer events will be employed in a wide range of exciting applications. The new fundamental knowledge gained will be used to design novel photochemical routes to functionalised polyanilines. The ability to produce solutions, films and especially nanoparticles of polyanilines as photo-catalysts should result in novel light-driven processes of industrial/environmental significance (eg. reduction of carbon dioxide), as well as new light-promoted electronic communication with important biological molecules.Read moreRead less
Light-activated Bioconjugates for Applications in Synthesis and Biosensing. This project will allow the Australian biotechnology industry to develop better diagnostic biosensors that are controlled using light, making them cheaper and faster than the current generation of electronically controlled biosensors. Improvements in the response time of biosensors can be a matter of life and death, for instance, during a surgical operation. The project will benefit the pharmaceutical industry as it will ....Light-activated Bioconjugates for Applications in Synthesis and Biosensing. This project will allow the Australian biotechnology industry to develop better diagnostic biosensors that are controlled using light, making them cheaper and faster than the current generation of electronically controlled biosensors. Improvements in the response time of biosensors can be a matter of life and death, for instance, during a surgical operation. The project will benefit the pharmaceutical industry as it will allow the making of so-called chiral drugs cheaper and safer but problems with the purity of chiral drugs have in the past caused serious side-effects such as in the tragic case of thalidomide.Read moreRead less
Selective Detection and Removal of Contaminants That Have an Adverse Impact on Australian Raw Sugar Quality. Sugar is Australia's 2nd largest agricultural crop with 80-85% exported earning $2 billion in export revenue. Whilst Australia is arguably the most reliable supplier of premium raw sugar the implementation of improved processing technologies by rivals has (and without appropriate research strategies will continue to) eroded some of the long-held Australian advantages.
Our innovative a ....Selective Detection and Removal of Contaminants That Have an Adverse Impact on Australian Raw Sugar Quality. Sugar is Australia's 2nd largest agricultural crop with 80-85% exported earning $2 billion in export revenue. Whilst Australia is arguably the most reliable supplier of premium raw sugar the implementation of improved processing technologies by rivals has (and without appropriate research strategies will continue to) eroded some of the long-held Australian advantages.
Our innovative approaches will improve raw sugar quality, measurement methods, and allow new product development (value adding), enabling Australia to maintain its? world leading position. Importantly, our technologies enable improvements of specific quality issues (and potentially as yet unidentified issues), further differentiating the Australian product in the international marketplace.
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Characterisation and Development of Dynamic Supramolecular Combinatorial Libraries. The discovery of biologically active molecules, in particular drug discovery, requires the design and synthesis of host molecules that bind selectively to the biological target. Combinatorial chemistry has greatly assisted this discovery process as it allows the rapid screening of large collections of molecules. In this proposal, metal ion interactions will be used in the combinatorial library as this will grea ....Characterisation and Development of Dynamic Supramolecular Combinatorial Libraries. The discovery of biologically active molecules, in particular drug discovery, requires the design and synthesis of host molecules that bind selectively to the biological target. Combinatorial chemistry has greatly assisted this discovery process as it allows the rapid screening of large collections of molecules. In this proposal, metal ion interactions will be used in the combinatorial library as this will greatly increases the diversity of the pool of compounds to be screened for activity. Understanding how to generate and analyze these libraries has potential applications in drug screening, the discovery of new substrates, enzymes and inhibitors. Read moreRead less
In-field sensors for the detection of illicit drugs. Presumptive field test kits for illicit drugs analysis are typically based on chemical spot tests that produce a coloured product. While relatively easy to apply, such test kits (containing wet chemicals) produce inconclusive colour changes lacking sensitivity, and selectivity requiring a subjective assessment by the examiner. Despite these limitations, these test kits are in widespread use and are routinely used. This study aims to develop s ....In-field sensors for the detection of illicit drugs. Presumptive field test kits for illicit drugs analysis are typically based on chemical spot tests that produce a coloured product. While relatively easy to apply, such test kits (containing wet chemicals) produce inconclusive colour changes lacking sensitivity, and selectivity requiring a subjective assessment by the examiner. Despite these limitations, these test kits are in widespread use and are routinely used. This study aims to develop specific in-field sensors for the detection and identification of illicit drugs. This would significantly enhance the ability of Forensic Services staff to confirm the identity of seized material. Increased specificity would provide valuable early advice to investigators regarding the nature of a seizure and would reduce the likelihood of false positive results. Increased sensitivity would permit the analysis of trace amounts of material from individuals or locations related to an illicit drug consignment.Read moreRead less
Single Molecule Studies of Replisomal Function. It has recently become possible to watch the copying of DNA molecules with a specialized microscope in real time. This process requires assembly of a complex molecular machine on the DNA, followed by triggering of its function, and yields exquisitely detailed information about how the machine works. In this new collaboration between scientists in Australia and the U.S.A., we will assemble these machines on single DNA molecules, watch how they work ....Single Molecule Studies of Replisomal Function. It has recently become possible to watch the copying of DNA molecules with a specialized microscope in real time. This process requires assembly of a complex molecular machine on the DNA, followed by triggering of its function, and yields exquisitely detailed information about how the machine works. In this new collaboration between scientists in Australia and the U.S.A., we will assemble these machines on single DNA molecules, watch how they work and simultaneously measure the very small forces that the machines generate. This will give Australian scientists access to a new technology for studying molecular machines.Read moreRead less
Novel Synthetic Receptors For Selective Recognition of Phosphate Oxoanions. Anions are critical to the maintenance of life, playing roles in almost every biochemical process. Artificial anion receptors that bind strongly to specific anions have considerable potential applications in biomedicine, but current receptors do not possess the required selectivity for applications. We will undertake the design and construction of a number of molecular receptors tailored to complement the size, shape and ....Novel Synthetic Receptors For Selective Recognition of Phosphate Oxoanions. Anions are critical to the maintenance of life, playing roles in almost every biochemical process. Artificial anion receptors that bind strongly to specific anions have considerable potential applications in biomedicine, but current receptors do not possess the required selectivity for applications. We will undertake the design and construction of a number of molecular receptors tailored to complement the size, shape and charge of specific biologically important anions and will assess their ability to bind selectively to their target guests. This will lead to the development of small molecule receptors for use in biomedical applications.Read moreRead less
Backbone Modified Cyclic Peptides: Scaffolds for Supramolecular Chemistry. The synthesis of compounds that mimic Nature's catalysts - enzymes - will provide us with a better understanding of how these intriguing molecules function and may lead to the development of new catalysts for industrial processes. Modified cyclic peptides could be used as platforms to arrange catalytic groups in a spatially well-defined manner to mimic enzymes. As cyclic peptides are often difficult to prepare, I aim to d ....Backbone Modified Cyclic Peptides: Scaffolds for Supramolecular Chemistry. The synthesis of compounds that mimic Nature's catalysts - enzymes - will provide us with a better understanding of how these intriguing molecules function and may lead to the development of new catalysts for industrial processes. Modified cyclic peptides could be used as platforms to arrange catalytic groups in a spatially well-defined manner to mimic enzymes. As cyclic peptides are often difficult to prepare, I aim to develop a powerful general method for their synthesis. This methodology will then be applied to the synthesis of cyclic peptide-based enzyme mimics.Read moreRead less
Organic electrofunctinal materials: Novel conducting Polymer and Carbon nanotube systems. Inherently conducting polymers and carbon nanotubes will be modified to enhance their ability to function as electrodes used in areas such as sensors, actuators(artificial muscles), energy conversion (Photovoltaics) and storage(batteries, supercapacitors).
The modified materials and systems containing them will be amenable to fabrication into ordered structures, or integration with hosts such as fabrics. ....Organic electrofunctinal materials: Novel conducting Polymer and Carbon nanotube systems. Inherently conducting polymers and carbon nanotubes will be modified to enhance their ability to function as electrodes used in areas such as sensors, actuators(artificial muscles), energy conversion (Photovoltaics) and storage(batteries, supercapacitors).
The modified materials and systems containing them will be amenable to fabrication into ordered structures, or integration with hosts such as fabrics. This latter feature is particularly exciting in that it will accelerate developments in the area of intelligent textiles and fabrics with sensing, actuating and energy conversion/storage capabilities.Read moreRead less