Our research group is a combination of chemists, biochemists and biologists interested in metal-catalyzed biotransformations. The research projects are located at the interface between chemistry and biology, as far as concepts but also methods are concerned.
Our work aims at understanding and mimicing the molecular chemistry of complex biological reactions at both the structural and reactivity levels.
As an example, iron-sulfur cluster based redox catalytic systems are a class of enzymes studied in order to understand their catalytic mechanisms. We are also interested in inverstigating the mechanism of the biosynthesis of such polymetallic structures within proteins and enzymes.
Based on this knowledge, new synthetic molecules can be derived with potential application in the field of energy or health: mimicing hydrogenase enzymes leads to the design of new catalysts to be used in electrolyzers or fuel-cells alternatively to platinum whereas some metalloenzymes are potential targets regarding the design of new antibiotics.
Biocatalysis
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| Inaugural lesson of the Collège de France |
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Marc Fontecave, chair of Chemistry of biological processes, 26 march 26th, 2009 :
• watch the video • download the medium of the inaugural lesson All the courses will be filmed and available remotely on the Web pages of professor Marc Fontecave |