Current problems of modern chemical science have been discussed by members of the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in XXI Century International Conference finished at Tomsk Polytechnic University. Famous Russian researchers from leading academic institutes and universities of Russia with whom TPU scientists conduct joint projects represented their speeches at the plenary meeting. Topics of their speeches were dedicated to the development of biomedicine, the creation of new organic materials, molecular machines and medication.
TPU traditionally becomes a communication venue for discussing relevant problems of chemistry and chemical engineering. The representatives of the Russian universities, domestic and overseas academic institutions, enterprises, industrial research institutes and general educational institutions also joined the discussion. This year, the Conference gathered a record-breaking number of participants — over 500 speakers from 23 countries.
“In total, four plenary reports were given at the opening of the Conference. They were read by scientists from Irkutsk, Moscow and Saint Petersburg. A vital idea that united all four reports was that inventions in modern science start from fundamental research and without them it is impossible to create new technology and materials,”
comments Marina Trusova, director of the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences.
Andrey Ivanov, director of the Favorsky Irkutsk Institute of Chemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, introduced the development of a new medication based on pyrroles. His research team is engaged in the synthesis of complex organic molecules based on acetylenes and pyrroles. Such molecules are promising to create the next generation of medication.
Eugeny Tretyakov, deputy director for research and head of the Laboratory for Paramagnetic Materials and Molecular Spin Systems of the Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, delivered a report on From Free Radical Chemistry to Molecular Spin Devices. The scientists create organic radicals capable to become working components of spintronics.
A report by Irina Balova, director of the Institute of Chemistry of St Petersburg University, was dedicated to modern tendencies in the creation of new reagents for bioconjugation and bioimaging. Today, the researchers create new reagents and methods for studying intracellular processes. The researchers from the Institute of Chemistry develop marker compounds, which will respond to the formation of extraneous cells in the body and give a signal by fluorescence.
One more problem that the global chemical community faces is monitoring and controlling the structure of matter within separate molecules. The creation of molecular machines has become a breakthrough solution to solve this problem. The presentation of these machines was contributed by Yulia Gorbunova, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and research fellow of the Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow).
Molecular machines are devices capable to manipulate single atoms and molecules. Such machines can move or work under external factors: light, heating, pressure and other thermal energy or chemical reaction. Biological molecular machines control processes in the human body and can be met in wildlife. For instance, it is actin and myosin. They control human body muscles. Rhodopsin allows a human to see, ATP synthase protein is a main source of energy in the human body, meanwhile, a walking protein of kinesin transports various cargo in cells. In 2016, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for the development and creation of the first artificial molecular machines.
“Works of our research group are contributed to the development of methods for directed synthesis of compounds based on tetrapyrrole ligands, which are counted to be alternatives of porphyrins, natural photoactive substances. Due to its unique features, this kind of compounds is the foundation of new materials for nonlinear optics, conductive, optical, magnetic and sensor devices, as well as memory elements, including smart switches and molecular machines,”
reported Yulia Gorbunova.
The application of molecular machines opens up a new wide potential for humankind: from the creation of smart materials and soft robots to personalized medicine and targeted drug delivery.