| Topic title |
Possible scientific supervisors |
Source of funding |
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Synthesis and investigation of azoles and azines
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prof. habil. dr. Vytautas MICKEVIČIUS |
state non-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
The synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic systems has been extremely popular in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. The nitrogen-containing heterocycles are found in abundance in most of medicinal compounds. Azoles and azines are five- and six-membered heterocyclic compounds with one or several heteroatoms in the ring. The nitrogen, oxygen, and sulphur heterocycles are an attractive source of compounds for the identification of new biological probes. Azoles and azines are found to be associated with various biological activities such as antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, anti-HIV, anticoagulant, antiarrhythmic, antidepressant, antidiabetic, etc. N-Substituted amino acids, hydrazides and hydrazones of carboxylic acids are used in the synthesis of five- and six-membered heterocyclic compounds containing one, two or three nitrogen atoms in a heterocycle. Pyrroles are important synthons in the synthesis of natural products. The pyrazole, thiazole scaffolds represents a common motif in many pharmaceutical active and remarkable compounds demonstrating a wide range of pharmacological, antiproliferative, crop protection activities. The triazole nucleus is one of the most important heterocycles; it is a feature of natural products and predominates among the medicinal agents. The widespread use of 1,3,4-oxadiazoles as a scaffold in medicinal chemistry establishes this moiety as an important bioactive class of heterocycles. The task of this research is development of the synthesis methods for new functionalized azoles and azines, containing amino acids and their derivatives, aliphatic, aromatic, heterocyclic, carbonylic, quinone fragments, investigation of chemical and biological properties and reactivity of these compounds under different conditions.
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| Valorisation of poorly studied plant species by evaluating their phytochemical composition and functional properties |
prof. dr. Petras Rimantas VENSKUTONIS |
state non-funded |
| Leaching of metals and organic compounds from fine fraction of waste treatment residues: influencing factors and environmental impact |
prof. dr. Gintaras DENAFAS |
state non-funded |
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Synthesis and properties of novel polysaccharide derivatives for medical applications
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doc. dr. Ramunė RUTKAITĖ |
state non-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Polymer vesicles (polymersomes) are becoming increasingly attractive materials to be used in various biomedical applications. They simultaneously encapsulate hydrophilic components in their aqueous interiors and hydrophobic molecules within their thick membranes. Beside the delivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic species e.g. drugs, they can be applied in optical imaging or targeted therapy. Most of polymersomes are typically made of synthetic block copolymers. However, vesicles composed of biodegradable polymers are becoming increasingly attractive agents for improved delivery, stabilization and prolonged release of drugs. Polysaccharide based derivatives could feature physicochemical properties not only close to those of synthetic ones but also bring an added value such as biodegradability, biocompatibility or bioactivity in some cases. Especially, nano- and microstructures obtained from the self-assembly of natural blocks are expected to have great potential in the development of biomedical applications, in particular, as nanocarriers for the delivery of drugs, proteins and genes. The aim of this research work – to obtain various novel modified polysaccharide structures having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments for the formation of polymeric vesicles and explore their properties in drug delivery. During the course of the project chemical and physical modification of natural polysaccharides will be performed to obtain the derivatives of different structure, composition, hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance, functionality, molecular weight, degradability, stimuli responsive properties etc. Then the formation of modified polysaccharide vesicles will be also assessed. Afterwards the studies on the control of vesicle physicochemical properties will be performed. Finally, the optimized design and preparation methods for polysaccharide vesicles will achieved as well as their performance in selected drug delivery mechanisms will be evaluated
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Design, synthesis of new heterocyclic amino acid derivatives and investigation of structure and properties
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doc. dr. Vilija Kederienė |
state non-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Synthetic biomolecules are compounds, which are synthetically produced and mimic the properties and action of naturally-occurring biomolecules. In recent years, synthetic analogues of biomolecules such as amino acids, peptides and proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and even nucleic acids, have found wide practical application in biomedicine, synthetic and molecular biology, bionanotechnologies and other areas of advanced technologies. For example, non-natural heterocyclic amino acids have been used as building blocks for the preparation of foldamers, synthetic peptides and for the of modification proteins. Moreover, they have become important intermediates for receiving of numerous of biologically active small molecules, including derivatives of heterocyclic compounds. However, design and preparation of novel synthetic non-natural heterocyclic amino acids especially as pure enantiomers is a complex and costly process demanding high qualifications for researchers, costly reagents and complex equipment. Therefore, there is a relatively limited number of synthetic amino acids on the commercial market, that can serve as building blocks and intermediates for the synthesis of more complex functional molecules. This situation is a serious obstacle to obtaining a high degree of diversity of lead molecules, such as synthetic peptides, as many pharmaceutical companies use the same amino acids. The design and synthesis of novel non-natural heterocyclic amino acids is a research topic task at many biopharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Novartis, Astra Zeneca etc., and research groups at leading universities. For detailed information please contact the supervisor of the topic.
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Synthesis, investigation and applications of organic semiconductors
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v.m.d. dr. Dalius GUDEIKA |
state non-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Organic amorphous materials are widely investigated as components of various optoelectronic devices such as organic light emitting diodes, solar cells, field effect transistors. Organic electronics is attractive due to the potentially of cheap production, environmental friendliness and material flexibility. The inorganic materials used in these devices are being replaced by organic ones, because their synthesis is cheaper and simpler, they have a wider spectrum of properties, and simpler technologies are needed to form amorphous layers. Organic layers can be formed by cheap printing technology. Organic synthesis methods allow changing of chemical and physical properties of substances in wide ranges. For the above reasons synthesis of new materials and their introduction into organic electronic devices is a relevant and perspective subject of scientific work. Currently, synthesis and investigations of organic semiconductors is intensively developing field of chemical engineering. A particular attention is paid to the synthesis and studies of electron-transporting and bipolar materials (transporting holes and electrons). The emergence of efficient bipolar organic semiconductors in the market would allow to improve performance of some organic electronic devices. The newly designed compounds will be synthesized using advanced synthetic methods including copper, palladium cross-coupling reactions (Heck, Ullmann, Buchwald-Hartwig, Suzuki-Miyaura). To achieve HPLC purity grade all the synthesized materials will be purified using column chromatography, crystallization or sublimation methods. The synthesized new compounds will be characterized by modern methods, such as nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry methods..... For detailed information please contact the supervisor of the topic.
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Formation and Study Metal Chalcogenide Layers on the Polymer Surface
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doc. dr. Remigijus IVANAUSKAS |
state non-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Metal chalcogenides compounds with sulfur, selenium and tellurium have unique physical properties (semiconductors, conductors, electromagnetic wave insulators, photoconductors, catalysts, sensors, good transmittance in the visible and low-infrared spectrum, etc.) required by modern technology. Polymeric materials, when coated with metal chalcogenide layers, along with their properties (flexibility, lightness, environmental resistance, high heat, magnetic waves, electric current insulation, etc.) acquire the properties of the latter layers. As a result, their scope of application in modern technology is significantly expanding. The investigation of the electrical, photochemical and optical properties of these formed composite layers and the evaluation of their relationship between the particle size, structure, chemical and phase composition of the layer will allow the selection of the most appropriate conditions for metal chalcogenide layers of desired properties and composition.
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| Aza-heterocyclic amino acids: synthesis, properties investigation, structural investigation |
m.d. dr. Greta RAGAITĖ |
state non-funded |
