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Chemistry (FCT)
Doctoral Programme,
Faculty of Chemical Technology
The aim of the programme is to educate highly qualified creative workers and researchers with theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of strategy, design and practical implementation of synthesis of special inorganic and organic compounds, materials and polymers. Our aim is to deepen the chemical, physicochemical and chemical-engineering knowledge of the graduate who should be capable of independent creative activities and taking decisions in the field of research and development in chemistry as well as many related or interdisciplinary fields. CareersThe graduate will be able to design targeted syntheses of inorganic, organic and polymeric materials and coordination compounds with predefined physical, electrochemical, catalytic and biochemical properties to be applied in pharmacy, nanotechnology, electronics and catalysis, characterize them and theoretically interpret the obtained data. In the field of macromolecular chemistry, she/he will be prepared to solve problems related to the processing, recycling and use of polymers including the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage objects. Acquired knowledge may vary according to the nature of dissertation, ranging from purely experimental-interpretation character to knowledge based on quantum mechanics, thermodynamics or other theoretical models used to describe the structure and behavior of matter. The acquired skills also include knowledge of information technologies, ability to lead a scientific team, project preparation and management as well as publishing skills. Programme Details
Ph.D. topics for study year 2025/26Biodegradable materials based on starch
Annotation
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Polymers, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Biomimetic Approaches to the Total Synthesis of the Axinellamines
AnnotationThe axinellamines belong to the most complex alkaloids with interesting biological properties. With this project biomimetic approaches will be explored to enable short total syntheses of the natural products themselves and of analogs. Their biological profile will be investigated in collaboration.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS
Design and synthesis of higher calixarenes and their analogues for fullerene complexation
AnnotationThe aim of this work is focused on the design and synthesis of higher calixarenes (with five or more phenolic subunits) and their analogues, that could be applied as receptors for fullerene recognition. The aim of this work is to achieve selective complexation of C60 or C70 using suitably chemically modified calixarene skeletons and concave/convex principle of the interactions. Novel compounds will be used not only as receptors for fullerene complexation, but also for the construction of more sophisticate supramolecular systems (e.g. self-assembly).
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Functional Bottle-brush polymers for the modification and organization of nanoparticles
AnnotationSupracolloidal structures are of major interest in the field of materials science, with prospects for energy materials, information technology, and healthcare materials. These structures can feature functional properties that are enhanced by several orders of magnitude compared with the single colloid level as well as novel, emergent functional properties. Solution self-assembly of colloidal building blocks was hatched as an efficient approach to access supracolloidal structures. In particular, macromolecular scaffold structures have proven highly potent for guiding supracolloidal structure formation with nanoscale precision. However, current approaches e.g. based on DNA origami are limited with regard to compositional versatility and solvent/ temperature stability and lack bio-orthogonality. On the other hand, assembly strategies using bio-orthogonal nanoparticle linking entities are considerably underdeveloped in comparison. To address this gap, the aim of this thesis is to develop a modular access to well-defined functional supracolloidal structures from minimally complex, bio-orthogonal scaffold structures. This aim will be pursued by synthesizing bottlebrush polymers of distinct topologies and molar masses (by RAFT polymerization) that will serve as scaffolds with addressable binding sites for attaching distinct functional entities. Here, these bottlebrush polymers will be used for the programmable assembly of gold nanoparticles into well-defined supracolloidal structures.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Polymers, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Glycine alkoxyamines for New Bioconjugation Methodologies
AnnotationWe just accomplished approaches to glycine alkoxyamines, which hold large promise in bioconjugation. With this project the potential of these non-natural amino acid derivatives for approaching new peptide architectures will be explored.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS
Glycomimetic ligands for DC-SIGN receptor
AnnotationDC-SIGN is a carbohydrate-binding protein expressed on the surface of immune cells. Its targeting could be exploited in two ways: (1) to develop more efficient vaccines, and (2) to develop new treatments against certain pathogens. Despite the potential of natural carbohydrate ligands, their use in achieving specific delivery to DC‑SIGN expressing cells has largely been unsuccessful. In collaboration with the Molecular Drug Targeting Group from the University of Vienna, we have been working on the design and development of new glycomimetic ligands which bind DC‑SIGN with high selectivity and reasonable affinity. In the past years, we have identified several new scaffolds. The proposed PhD project will aim at performing structure–activity relationship study on these new DC-SIGN ligands. The major part of the thesis will be based on synthetic organic chemistry. The PhD candidate will learn the basics of carbohydrate chemistry and glycosylation reactions, as well as other organic reactions (use of orthogonal protecting groups, metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions…). Evaluation of binding affinity will be performed in Vienna and the PhD candidate will have the opportunity to learn the basics (either NMR-based techniques for protein–ligand interactions or cell-based techniques) during an internship.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Less traditional methods of rubber devulcanization
AnnotationOne of the current challenges for the rubber industry is to increase the proportion of recycled rubber waste, which is in line with the principles of circular economy. Recycling rubber is not easy as it cannot be dissolved or melted without degradation. A viable way of recycling rubber is by milling followed by partial or complete devulcanization. This can be done by various processes. The thesis will focus on the devulcanization of rubber by less traditional methods, e.g. by microwave radiation or micro-organisms. The influence of conditions on the course of devulcanization, its efficiency and selectivity will be studied. The properties of rubber compounds containing the obtained devulcanizate will also be studied.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Polymers, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Novel Polydentate Phosphane Ligands: Synthesis, Complexation Properties, and Applications in Noble Metal Separation
AnnotationThis work focuses on the synthesis of novel polydentate phosphane ligands containing at least four phosphorus centers. The complexation properties of the resulting ligands will be thoroughly investigated. The primary applications of these ligands will include the selective isolation of noble metals (Rh, Pd, Au) from natural sources and their use in cross-coupling reactions.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Organic thin films for energy conversion and catalysis
AnnotationHydrogen is considered as primary option in our transition to climate neutral economy. However, current technologies of hydrogen production are far from being climate neutral. Moreover, they involve pricy and precious materials that the EU must import from countries, which use those materials as geopolitical leverage. In this project, we will research the technology of hydrogen production using light (i.e. green hydrogen) and sustainable all-organic thin films and conjugated polymers. The project will integrate organic synthesis with materials preparation and extensive characterization, up to device assembly and testing in selected catalytic transformations with particular focus on green hydrogen photoelectrochemical cells.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Natural additives for mixtures with natural rubber
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Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Polymers, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Redox innocent metals in photoredox catalysis
AnnotationRedox-inactive metals have long been used in photoredox catalysis, or in redox reactions in general, as Lewis acids. However, recent results show that under appropriate conditions, salts of such metals, such as scandium(III) salts, can act as independent photoactive species that act as strong oxidizing agents upon excitation. The aim of this work is to study the possible use of scandium salts in oxidative transformations using visible light. Examples of use include C-C and C-heteroatom coupling reactions. Another aim of the study is to verify the applicability of other metal ions with similar properties in photoredox catalysis.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Stability of Grafted Polymer Ligands on Gold Nanoparticles: Solvent Effects and Strategies for Optimization
AnnotationThe architecture and stability of polymer-brush layers at (metal) nanoparticle surfaces are key matters in nanotechnology. This is so, not only because the polymeric ligand shell may carry desired functionalities, but this coating also determines in general the nanoparticle’s interaction with their environment. However, the nanoparticle/polymer-ligand interface is not static, but dissociation and exchange phenomena occur. This is critical for example in the context of nanomedicine, where cell internalization, the in-vivo biodistribution, and targeting of polymer-functionalized nanoparticles can be affected by polymer-layer instabilities. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the stability and dynamic properties of the ligand shell in polymer-grafted gold nanoparticles; and also to tackle the challenge of increasing this stability. The polymers will be synthesized by Reversible Addition-Fragmentation chain Transfer (RAFT) polymerization and directly anchored at gold nanoparticle surfaces using a grafting-to strategy. Polymer layer stability will be analyzed by UV/visible extinction spectroscopy and scattering methods. The thesis will test the hypothesis that the chemistry of the polymer’s surface anchoring group, the hydrophobic character in proximity to this binding group, and also the number of such binding groups within the end-grafted macromolecules will influence the polymer-ligands dissociation kinetics. It will also be tested if additional surface modification steps can further increase polymer layer stability. After initial tests in aqueous environments, experiments in more complex fluids such as simulated blood fluid will be used to assess the stability in application-relevant conditions.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Polymers, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Synthesis of novel macrocycles using the conjugate addition and their supramolecular applications
AnnotationPillar[n]arenes can be considered relatively new members of the family of phenolic macrocycles. Due to their unique cylindrical shape and electron-rich cavity, pillar[n]arenes have already found many applications in contemporary supramolecular chemistry. To name at least a few such applications, the sensing of various analytes, supramolecular self-assemblies, stimuli-responsive supramolecular polymers and model systems to study various noncovalent interactions can be mentioned. It is well known from the chemistry of calix[n]arenes that the introduction of sulfur instead of common methylene bridges leads to dramatic changes in chemical and supramolecular behaviour of such systems. Recently, it has been shown that these compounds can be constructed using the 1,4-conjugate addition of suitable building blocks. The aim of this project is the construction of pillararenes and their analogues bearing heteroatoms as the bridging units and the investigation of these new macrocycles including their characterization, derivatization and the study of supramolecular applications.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
Total Syntheses of Complex Indoloterpene Alkaloids and Their Analogs
AnnotationWith the project, synthetic approaches to complex indoloterpene and their analogs displaying wide-ranging biological activity will be developed.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS
The use of mechanical bond as a protecting group for the synthesis of porous materials
AnnotationPorous crystalline materials are used for the gas separation and storage, catalysis or chemical sensing. Their properties are strongly related to their porosity. However, one of the problems preventing the preparation of highly porous materials is the interpenetration – the interweaving of multiple crystal lattices. The aim of the project is to use the mechanical bond as a protecting group to prevent the interpenetration and, thus, the preparation of highly porous materials.
Contact supervisor
Study place:
Department of Organic Chemistry, FCT, VŠCHT Praha
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Updated: 20.1.2022 16:26, Author: Jan Kříž