Inspired by enzymes we develop synthetic analogues with high selectivity and activity, which function in concert with natural biocatalysts
At the Supramolecular Chemistry and Catalysis group, we work towards the integration of biological and chemical processes to generate non-natural conversions in complex media. We explore the exciting opportunities that arise from the integration of polymer chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and stereochemistry with the novel field of bio-orthogonal chemistry, that studies chemical reactions to augment biochemical processes. Using this integrated approach, we focus on the design and synthesis of (supramolecular) copolymers that form nanometre-sized structures with the aim to achieve efficient and selective catalysis in water and in complex cellular media. Developing such complex molecular systems based on non-covalent, reversible interactions, and understanding the mechanisms underlying their formation, will provide a solid foundation to progress towards in vivo applications.
Our ultimate goal is to develop synthetic enzyme analogues that can perform bio-orthogonal catalysis in concert with their natural counterparts, and that display similar activity and selectivity. To achieve this, we design and synthesise amphiphilic systems – either using covalent polymers with pendant sticky groups that fold into compartmentalised structures in aqueous media, or using supramolecular copolymers with pendant functional groups. Our research develops along three lines: development of single-chain polymeric nanoparticles, developing carrier materials for efficient catalysis in water and complex media, and fundamental studies of supramolecular (co)polymerisations.
News:
2024
March
How does the life of a young scientist look like? Twelve new “Faces of science”, an initiative of the Dutch Science association KNAW (https://www.nemokennislink.nl/facesofscience/) were selected and our group member Esmee de Korver is one of them. We can now follow her scientific ups and down via blogs and videos (https://www.nemokennislink.nl/publicaties, or via https://www.instagram.com/facesofscience?igsh=MWI4anZqaGNzcmdvZA== ). Congratulations Esmee.
2023
October
We congratulate Tessa Loman who won one of the “Young Talent Awards” of the “Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen” in the category Life Sciences for her master thesis “Rh-catalyzed cyclopropanations and NH-Insertions using amphiphilic polymeric nanoparticles in complex media”. We are very proud of her achievement.
September
Congratulations to Dr. Linlin Deng for completing her well-deserved PhD. She defended her thesis “Protein-sized amphiphilic polymeric nanoparticles: from design to biological function”. We wish her lots of success in her next step of her career.
September
We would like to congratulate Dr. Marle Vleugels for successfully defending her PhD thesis ‘Bioactive supramolecular assemblies’ and earning her Dr. title. We wish her all the best at her new position in Sweden.
August
Congratulations to Stefan Wijker, who presented a poster at the IUPAC/CHAINS 2023 conference in The Hague this year and won a best poster award in Smart & Energy Materials. The poster discussed how the molecular design of polymer chains governs their folding behavior in water and impacts conformational and functional stability in aqueous media and cells.
June
Many congratulations to Dr. Anjana Sathyan for successfully defending her PhD thesis on Single-Chain Polymeric Nanoparticles for Bioorthogonal Catalysis and obtaining her doctorate degree. We wish you a lot of success for your future career!
June
We wish to congratulate Professor Craig Hawker of the University of California Santa Barbara, who has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Technical University of Eindhoven for his outstanding work in polymer chemistry.
March
Congratulations to Ji Hye for successfully defending her Master thesis on the synthesis of methyl centered BTAs and their characterization in bulk and solution.
2022
December
Congratulations to Rik Bosman for successfully defending his Master thesis on the synthesis and characterization of water-soluble bisurea-based supramolecular self-assembly units.
December
Are single chain polymeric nanoparticles homogeneous in structure and polarity, when comparing individual chains? In the paper “Spectrally PAINTing a Single Chain Polymeric Nanoparticle at Super-Resolution”, Manos Archontakis and Linlin Deng show in a wonderful collaborative effort that SCPNs are in fact very heterogeneous, even at different levels. Their work was recently published in JACS!! Congratulations to the Albertazzi team and our team!!
October
The recent paper published by Anjana Sathyan is now summarised on the Nature Community website to highlight the progress made by the ITN network Theracat in the bio-orthogonal activation of cancer prodrugs. Many congratulations to this great collaborative effort!
October
During a festive ceremony in The Hague, our Gravitation project “Interactive Polymer Materials” was awarded by the Dutch minister of Science and Education, Robbert Dijkgraaf! Many congratulations to all the people involved in the project.
September
On the annual group retreat together with the Meijer group, we visited Ghent University. During a mini-symposium with the groups of Filip du Prez and Richard Hoogenboom, we heard some amazing presentations. Congratulations to Marle Vleugels and Filip van Lysebetten with their respective presentation awards from both universities!
August
We are very happy that we obtained an ENW-M2 grant for research on new self-healing materials together with Célia Fonseca Guerra from the VU. The grant entails funding for a combined experimental and computational research to develop novel materials that bond to form chemically crosslinked networks, but also have the ability to debond on demand. This allows healing of the material when damaged and permits to reuse the material when needed.
June
Congratulations to Tessa Loman for successfully defending her Master thesis on NH-insertions and cyclopropanations in complex media using transition-metal-based catalysts incorporated in single-chain polymeric nanoparticles.
June
Congratulations to Esmee de Korver for successfully defending her Master thesis on the synthesis of a trifunctional supramolecular building block for polymerisations in water.
May
The Gravitation proposal “Interactive Polymer Materials” has been awarded!! Great news, and a great opportunity to strengthen the development of novel chemistries to make interactive materials in our group!!
Picture source: ICMS Animation Studio
May
Willem Verheijen celebrated his successful defense of his bachelor thesis by baking the complete periodic system out of macarons.
They tasted amazing!
2021
December
In April 2019, Anja Palmans was appointed full professor of Supramolecular Chemistry and Catalysis at the Department of Chemical Engineering & Chemistry at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
Since her inaugural lecture has been postponed several times due to corona restrictions, the lecture has been recorded and uploaded for you to view here (in Dutch). Additionally, her inaugural lecture is also available in written form here.
December
Many congratulations to Fabian Eisenreich for attaining a VENI award. His research involves the use of (sun)light to perform valuable chemical reactions in water as the solvent, with easily reusable polymer-based catalysts. This is an important step in developing sustainable, green technologies. We wish him all the best!
December
Congratulations to Sandra Schoenmakers for successfully defending her PhD thesis titled Supramolecular Polymers under the Magnifying Glass!
A beautiful summary of her work can be found here.
September
Congratulations to Piers da Camino Ancona Lopez Soligo for successfully defending his masterthesis on water-soluble bisurea based supramolecular polymers!
August
Congratulations to David van Krimpen for successfully defending his masterthesis on photocatalysis in water!
July
Congratulations to Koen van Beurden for successfully defending his masterthesis!
June
To celebrate 65 years of TU/e with the theme ‘Heroes like You’, Marle Vleugels was interviewed as a hero of the month in June. Read her story and others’ here.
Picture: Bart van Overbeeke
June
Congratulations to Rico Monnink for successfully finishing his internship!
April
Congratulations to Jorg Mallens (left) and Wesley van Vliet (right), who both successfully defended their masterthesis!!!
March
Prof. Anja Palmans explains how she and her team were able to safely teach a practical course to students in covid-times
Picture: Bart van Overbeeke
2020
December
Theracat, the EU ITN network which we are part of, launches a Youtube video wherein i.a. Anjana and Lin lin explain how bio-orthogonal catalysis may aid to develop novel cancer therapies
October
Working apart together