P. (Peter) Fodran, Dr

Catalysis is a process for an increase in the speed of a chemical reaction. As such, almost 90% of all chemical products, including drugs, agrochemicals and petrochemicals, involve catalysis at some stage of their manufacture. The substances having the catalytic ability, or simpler, catalysts, can be classified on several criteria. Still, their working principle is the same - they decrease the energy required for the reaction to occur.

Visible light, together with organic and inorganic dyes and enzymes, can also accelerate chemical reactions. Given the abundance and renewable character of visible light, photocatalysis holds excellent promise for the future sustainable development of synthetic methodologies. One line of Peter’s research projects deals with applying photocatalysis in the synthesis of organic compounds relevant to drug discovery. The typical questions that are answered include: Can this be done better with photocatalysis? Can we make more stable photocatalysts? Can photocatalysis add significant value to raw and biorenewable materials?

Natural products are compounds or substances found in Nature. Typically, they show interesting biological activity and display remarkable molecular architecture. Many natural products found their way into life-saving therapies, for example, Taxol in various cancers or Penicillin in infectious diseases.

While Natural products can be harvested from Nature, sometimes their chemical synthesis from scratch is required. Some of the reasons include the minute availability of Nature and the need to prove the chemical structure or biological activity unequivocally. Furthermore, the synthesis of natural products serves as a litmus paper for the generality and maturity of chemical methods and is a vital impulse in developing new methodologies. The second line of Peter’s research projects deals with the synthesis of natural products. The typical questions that are answered include: How to make this molecule? What should be the order of steps? What is the suitable starting material?