Project description
Unravelling the role of water in chiral recognition
In biology and chemistry many biological molecules, such as amino acids, sugars, and drugs, are chiral, mirror images of each other. Because chiral molecules have different functions, being able to distinguish between the two is critical to understanding biological systems. The ERC-funded HYDROCHIRAL project aims to delineate the role of water in this chiral recognition. Since water molecules form hydration shells around chiral molecules and specific hydrogen bonding, they affect stability, folding and conformation of chiral molecules. Using innovative technologies, researchers will study chiral water structures in biomolecule solvation. Apart from fundamental knowledge, project findings are expected to help advance analytical chemistry and pharmaceutical applications like drug discovery.
Objective
Chirality and water both play key roles in various aspects of biological functions and disentangling water’s role in chiral recognition in biological processes is paramount to ultimately understanding the origins of homochirality. HydroChiral proposes to do this by developing ground-breaking instrumentation that uses broadband molecular rotational spectroscopy combined with supersonic expansions, buffer gas cell technology, and novel chiral capabilities to explore pressings topics at the forefront of water research and chirality such as the generation and characterization of chiral water, the generation of larger water clusters to examine the first solvation shell, and absolute configuration determination for analytical applications. This technique will differentiate between enantiomers, diasteriomers, and conformers within complex gas mixtures while enabling the study, at an unprecedented accuracy, of the chiral water structures that form in the solvation of biomolecules and unravel the active role of water in most biological processes.
The project will demonstrate the use of chiral techniques that have been developed for rotational spectroscopy on molecular clusters for the first time, and it will use enantiomer-selective population transfer techniques to tilt the racemic nature of chiral water clusters and create enantiomerically enriched water. The proposed research encompasses my three fields of expertise to perform cutting-edge research in water cluster science, chirality and solvation using the advantageous features of rotational spectroscopy. The outcomes of HydroChiral will open new horizons for not only fundamental research in physical chemistry and molecular physics but also in applied fields ranging from analytical chemistry to asymmetric synthesis in pharmaceutical applications such as drug discovery, where absolute configuration determination is crucial.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules
- natural sciences physical sciences optics spectroscopy
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
47002 VALLADOLID
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.