Research
Antimicrobial Dendritic Amphiphiles
Since 2004, our group has developed efficient syntheses of dendritic amphiphiles with a goal of designing and synthesis of affordable anti-infectives. Our work in this area is organized according to the following four main themes:
- Identifying lead compounds as inhibitors of bacterial, mycobacterial, and fungal pathogens,
- Optimizing drug-like properties, especially aqueous solubility, hemolysis, and aggregation,
- Measuring micellar properties of dendritic amphiphiles, and
- Probing how the dendritic amphiphiles affect the structure and properties of lipid bilayers,
Thin films on metal oxides.
Since 2005, our group has been using dendritic amphiphiles to modify metal oxide surfaces in designing responsive thin films and bio-nanoconstructs. All projects center around a tricarboxylato dendron (a tripod) as an anchor to the metal oxide surface. The goal is to expand the numerous chemical applications created by thiols on gold to more common surfaces. Success in this endeavor will inform several applications.
- froth flotation for the cleaner recovery of minerals and coal
- ultra-thin anti-corrosive agents for steel
- coated nanoparticles for drug delivery