Research of Organic Chemistry
The research conducted within the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry is directed towards the study of organic reactivity at the forefront of 21st century chemistry, specifically at the overlap of nanotechnology, chemical biology, and organic synthesis.
In micro- and nanotechnology, the goal is to create extremely small devices that can offer higher speed and sensitivity in analysis. As devices shrink, their surface area becomes very large in comparison to their volume (a higher surface-to-volume ratio). This means that controlling the surface properties becomes increasingly important.
Surfaces
In our lab, we study surfaces closely and develop or fine-tune their chemistry to make them suitable for functionalisation with (bio)organic materials. These materials can be covalently attached to the surface or applied as a thin coating. Using these approaches, we have achieved new types of surface functionalisation for materials such as glass, silicon (Si), silicon carbide (SiC) and copper (Cu), introducing a range of biofunctional groups.
Fundamental meets real-world devices
Our research combines fundamental studies with applied work towards real-world devices. Examples include protein-repelling microsieves, oxidation-resistant silicon, switchable liquid crystals, microchannels with oligosaccharides that selectively capture toxic antibodies, and micropatterned biofunctional copper surfaces for biosensing. This work has resulted in numerous highly cited publications and five patents since 2005.
In addition to using known surface reactions, we also develop new methods to make surface chemistry milder and more versatile. These new approaches can also provide alternative routes to well-known compounds. A key aim of our group is to apply bio-organic chemistry tools to expand the field of bio-based synthesis — for example, by using agrochemicals or agricultural waste streams as sustainable building blocks for large-scale synthesis.
Research groups
Research in our organic chemistry labs focusses on the interplay between three components: making new molecules and materials to obtain some novel functionality, developing novel methods to functionalize surfaces and to study thus functionalized surfaces, and finally constructing functional surfaces and materials. A few examples from our work:
- Novel organic reactions: Chiral click chemistry
- Chiral macrocycles: Rim-differentiated pillarenes
- Surface-Bound Organic Chemistry
- Theory of organic reactions
Natural Products Chemistry is the science related to the investigation of naturally occurring substances that are characteristic for certain plant or animal species (secondary metabolites). Although it has strong foundations in analytical chemistry (chromatography) and synthetic chemistry, there are also often links to biological sciences (e.g., chemical ecology). The main interest in Wageningen was and is on modern analytical aspects of natural products: improvement of their isolation, purification, quantification and fast detection as well as quality control of natural extracts.
Current research interests
- Ambient mass spectrometry
- Quality control of essential oils
- Gingko biloba
My research takes place at the interface of organic synthesis, supramolecular/dynamic-covalent chemistry and polymer science. Currently, my group’s research focusses on:
- Covalent adaptable networks
- Functional polymer coatings
- Sound-absorbing foams
Our group develops nanometer-sized tools to understand and interact with biology. Using the latest developments in organic chemistry, state-of-the-art equipment, and the experts we have in the lab, we push the limits of our current scientific abilities and understanding into the unknown.
In our research group we design, prepare and characterize organic materials, mostly polymers, that show specific interactions to ions. Ion-selectivity does not only play an important role in ion sensing, but it is also relevant for ion-separation processes. The need for ion-specific separations becomes clear when one embraces (waste) water as resource water. One of the main challenges is: how to catch specific ions like Li+, Na+, PO43– or NH4+ in a selective way? To study this, we functionalize the surfaces of electrodes and membranes with ion-selective materials. The resulting coatings are studied for their ion partitioning, filtering and transport properties.
Ion Sensing
Ion-selective electrodes convert the concentration of a certain ion into an electrical potential. They usually contain a polymer-based affinity layer to achieve selectivity. However, these electrodes have a limited stability and a relatively short shelve life. Using molecular surface engineering approaches we aim to improve the performance such electrodes in terms of fouling and degradation. Next to that, we aim to measure different ions simultaneously and selectively, using one sensor device.
Ion Removal & Recovery
Within this research theme we combine functionalized polymer coatings with an electrical field to achieve the electro-driven removal of ions in a selective way. Examples include Na+ (greenhouse applications), Mg2+/Ca2+(water softening). Interestingly, electro-driven, ion-removal processes have also the potential to recover or harvest ions at high purity. Our main focus is on the recovery of phosphate, which is an essential nutrient needed for all forms of life and at the same time it is a limited resource, which today is wasted at a large scale. This research program is funded via an ERC Consolidator Grant. Additionally, we explore the possibility to apply our approach to harvest Li+ from brines, addressing the growing appetite for Li-ion batteries.
Research within this team aims to get chemical analysis out of the lab, and into the hands of the people that need the (interpretation of) chemical information. These could be consumers that want to know that their food can be safely eaten (e.g. free from allergens or contaminants), inspectors that need to monitor food safety for the government, or patients who need to know vital information about their own health. Different research fields and analytical strategies are combined to achieve such goals, including ambient ionization (portable) mass spectrometry, lateral flow immunochemistry, chemical surface modification for (paper) microfluidics and 3D-printing.
Recent developments include:
- Biosensors for consumer diagnostics
- Stimuli-responsive paper microfluidics
- Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometry
- 3D-printing for analytical chemistry
The Ruggeri Lab and team work to develop and apply transformative microscopy and spectroscopic technologies to open a new research front and window of observation in Chemistry and Biology. We apply advanced nanoscale imaging, mechanical and chemical spectroscopy to study biomolecular process in life and disease at the single molecule scale, as well as characterising advanced functional surfaces and materials.
Asymmetric synthesis is of crucial importance for modern drug discovery. The gap in the “chirality” (fraction of sp3 atoms) of synthesized compounds and accepted drugs is steadily increasing in the last decades, showing the urgent need for the development of novel approaches to chiral organic molecules.
The main goal of our group is to develop novel asymmetric synthetic tools, that will be efficient in terms of enantiomeric excess, regioselectivity and yield. Moreover, we aim to develop sustainable methods that allow researchers to build up molecular complexity in a short number of steps.
The objective of our research is to develop advanced mass spectrometry based methods to characterize the metabolites (small molecules < 2000 Daltons) present in plants and food.
Metabolites are everywhere. They are characterized by diverse chemical structures which will determine their functions. Secondary metabolites play key role as inter-kingdom messengers, have beneficial effects on human health and may have antimicrobial activity. However, natural doesn't necessarily mean safe, or good. Plants can use metabolites as chemical weapon to defend themselves against a broad range of predators and these metabolites can also be toxic for humans.
From an analytical chemistry point of view, the comprehensive analysis of secondary metabolites by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry remains a challenge because of their chemical diversity, the large number of isomeric forms, and the lack of analytical standards. Therefore I have a specific interest in adding innovative analytical techniques such as ion mobility mass spectrometry and mass spectrometry imaging to the metabolomics workflow to overcome the challenge of comprehensively characterize the “metabolome” (complete set of small-molecule chemicals found within a biological sample).