Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica – Research

Directions

The research thrusts of the Institute are currently grouped along three major directions: materials chemistry, chemical synthesis and catalysis, and chemical biology. The current topics of materials sector include organic electroluminescent materials and devices, organic field-effect transistor materials and devices, photovoltaic materials and devices. The chemical catalysis and synthesis sector is focusing on the development of new synthetic methodology, drug discovery, carbohydrate chemistry, and the development of new catalytic systems for the generation of renewal energies and green fuels. The chemical biology program has made important advances in the delineation of bio-macromolecular structures and the development of new analytical platforms for disease detection and diagnosis.

Materials Chemistry: Organic Electronic and Optoelectronic Materialsy

Applications of organic optoelectronic materials and molecular engineering of nanomaterials are two major research directions under the materials division. Noticeable results include developments of blue fluorescent molecular materials for high performance organic light-emitting diodes, rational design of field-effective organic memory devices based on pentacene and gold nanoparticles, the very first stable organic thin film transistor based on single crystal of hexacene, rare single-walled metal–organic nanotube (MONT) with a large exterior wall diameter, the applications of metal-organic framework as optoelectronic materials, and a number of high performance materials for efficient solar energy harvesting devices such as dye-sensitized solar cells, perovskite solar cells, or organic photovoltaics. Researchers in this sector also develop stimuli-responsive materials, core-shell nanomaterials, and biomaterials. A recent report shows that a cell membrane–mimicking conducting polymer is capable to integrate biochemical and electrical stimulation to promote neural cellular behavior with great enhancement of neurite outgrowth on this conducting polymer.

Chemical Catalysis and Synthesis: Green Catalysis and Synthetic Methodology

In response to the increasingly demands of sustainable fuel and green synthetic technology, researchers in the organic synthesis and chemical catalysis divisions have strived to advance the development of cutting-edge technology for chemical transformations. The synthetic chemistry division of this sector focuses on the advances of synthetic methodology and drug discovery. The research topics under catalysis division is reconciling to catalysis relating to renewable energy. Major research directions in this sector include: (1) synthetic methodology: silyl ethers for hydroxy- directed nucleophilic acyl alkylation, microwave-assisted carbohydrate synthesis, smart fluorescent probes for bioorthogonal sugar labeling; (2) coordination chemistry: approaching unconventional catalysis via amino-NHC and carbodicarbene, unconventional porphyrin complexes for small molecule activations, engineering cytochrome P450 BM3 and alkane hydroxylase (AlkB) for alkane oxidations; (3) renewable energy catalysis: catalytic hydrogen evolution and mechanistic studies, encapsulated tricopper cluster for methane to methanol conversion, and novel catalysts for valorization of lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks.

Chemical Biology: New Material and Method towards Sustainable Health

Chemical biology division focus on the development of new material and methodology to explore the structure and function of macromolecules associated with cellular function or human diseases. The research activities are directed to unravel the underlying pathological mechanism and to derive new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Research topics in this division cover (1) development of smart biomaterials based on novel molecular principles; (2) chemical probe and advanced techniques in bio-imaging and structural biology; (3) drug discovery in cancer, infectious and neurodegenerative diseases; (4) development of structural biology techniques for infectious diseases, and (5) development of advanced proteomics strategies for biomarker discovery. The major achievements from the chemical biology group include the establishment of multiplexed quantitative strategy for membrane proteomics and post-translational modification for delineating disease mechanism and mining therapeutic targets discovery of amyloid fibrils induced from the TDP-43 in the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and development of a photocontrollable probe to induce TDP-43 aggregates in live cells, mapping of the RNA exit channel on transcribing RNA polymerase II by FRET analysis, development of nano velcro chip to capture circulating tumor cells for liquid biopsy, construction of a near-infrared- activatable enzyme platform using an up-conversion nanoparticle to remotely trigger intracellular signal transduction.

含氯和氫硫基之雙鐵化合物為鐵鐵氫化酵素之氧氣穩定態的擬態

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202408142.
Yih-Chern Horng,* Ming-Hsi Chiang* et al.

雖然鐵鐵氫化酶對產氫和氫氧化反應有相當卓越的催化效率，這些酶對氧的耐受性不高，阻礙了將它們部署在氫氣生產裝置和燃料電池中的實際應用。最近研究發現，鐵鐵氫化酶活化中心具有ㄧ個少見的氧穩定態（H_inact），具有抗氧降解的能力。我們的研究中，[2Fe-2S]化合物鍵結末端Cl（t-Cl）或SH（t-SH）配位基，其結構與 DdHydAB 和 CbA5H 的 H_inact 態極為相似。我們研究結果為了解酶氧穩定狀態的特性以及控制失活和再活化轉化機制的關鍵因素提供了寶貴的見解。這項工作有助於推動仿生分子催化劑研究的進步以及將酵素和人工催化劑整合到產氫裝置和燃料電池應用中。

[FeFe] hydrogenases demonstrate remarkable catalytic efficiency in hydrogen evolution and oxidation processes. However, susceptibility of these enzymes to oxygen-induced degradation impedes their practical deployment in hydrogen-production devices and fuel cells. Recent investigations into the oxygen-stable (H_inact) state of the H-cluster revealed its inherent capacity to resist oxygen degradation. Herein, we present findings on terminal Cl- and SH-bound [2Fe-2S] complexes, bearing relevance to the oxygen-stable state of DdHydAB and CbA5H. The findings garnered from these investigations offer valuable insights into properties of the enzymatic O₂-stable state, and key factors governing deactivation and reactivation conversion. This work contributes to the advancement of bio-inspired molecular catalysts and the integration of enzymes and artificial catalysts into H₂-evolution devices and fuel-cell applications.