João da Costa Pessoa (Associate Professor)
Departamento de Engenharia Química e Biológica
Instituto Superior Técnico
Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (Portugal)
JCP has been involved in projects involving Analytical Chemistry, synthesis of organic compounds, design of molecules for therapeutic use, structural characterization of compounds and catalysis.
Research Interest:
Synthesis: Development of synthetic methodologies for several types of organic compounds by procedures involving activation by metal ions, namely using complexes of vanadium, copper and nickel.
Catalysis: Development of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic systems for the synthesis of several types of organic compounds. Asymmetric synthesis involving homogeneous catalysis by transition metal complexes. Synthesis involving catalysts supported in solids, encapsulated in zeolites, or involving adsorbed ionic liquids.
Design of molecules for therapeutic use:
Design, synthesis and characterisation of ligands, and of the corresponding complexes, to obtain suitable compounds for therapeutic use, namely for the treatment of diabetes and as anti-tumour agents. The metal ions used have mainly been oxovanadium(IV and V), Cu(II) and Zn(II).
For the more promising compounds detailed speciation studies are made in aqueous solution. JCP is also involved in the study of the interaction of the compounds with plasma proteins (e.g. albumin and transferrin) and/or with DNA mainly using spectroscopic (EPR, CD, NMR, fluorescence) and electrophoretic techniques
Structural Characterization:
JCP has been involved in projects involving the use of spectroscopic techniques, namely circular dichroism, in the study of the stereochemistry of reactions of organic compounds and of metal complexes, and in the structural characterisation of peptides and proteins.
Analytical Chemistry
JCP has been involved in studies of speciation in solution using potentiometric and spectroscopic techniques, and the structural characterisation of the species formed.
JCP has also been involved in application of analytical techniques, namely for characterisation of ancient objects (e.g. tiles, paintings), analysis of marine sediments, and contaminants in environmental samples. In this context JCP has mainly dedicated to the development of chromatographic techniques.
Contact:
João da Costa Pessoa (Associate Professor)
Departamento de Engenharia Química e Biológica
Instituto Superior Técnico
Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
Av. Rovisco Pais
P - 1049-001 Lisboa
Portugal
telefone: (+351) 21 841 92 68
fax: (+351) 21 8464455
email: joao.pessoa@ist.utl.pt
Webpage: http://dequim.ist.utl.pt/docentes/1131/english
