Research Interests: Candace Lawrence



The aim of my research is to exploit synthetic organic chemistry to prepare molecules that incorporate hydrogen bond driven base-pairing interactions, in order to assemble discrete, well-defined architectures.  Such assemblies are envisioned to be useful for many applications including the study of energy- and electron-transfer processes in non-covalently assembled systems and the synthesis of novel-reversible polymeric materials. As importantly, these systems may help us to enhance our understanding of fundamental processes in nature such as replication and transport:

The main area of research is to utilize the guanosine-cytidine Watson-Crick hydrogen bonding mode as the basis for formation of supramolecular polymers.  “Monomers” synthesized feature guanosine and cytidine with benzene, porphyrin, and metallated dipyrromethene cores.  In collaboration with the Bielawski group at UT-Austin, fluorescent carbene-nucleobase monomers are being developed to monitor supramolecular polymer formation.

 

Monomers systems developed:

                                                                                               

 

 

 

In collaboration with the Ellington Lab of UT-Austin, we are providing a nucleobase-protein-tag, which could capture or bind to a nucleic acid sequence based on sequence complementarity.  This can be focused to gene therapy and directing enzymatic function to a particular sequence.

A pyrrole-appended purine nucleoside that interacts with guanosine through a proposed three-point Hoogsteen interaction.  Recent experimental analyses via mass spectrometry have shown binding to guanosine tetrads (g-quartets) in solution state.

                                                                          

                                                                                     

 

References:

To learn more about past and present projects involving self-assembly, please refer to these references:

[1]   Sessler, Jonathan L.; Lawrence, Candace M.; Jayawickramarajah, Janarthanan.  Molecular recognition via base-pairing.    Chemical Society Reviews  (2007),  36(2),  314-325.

[2]   Sessler, Jonathan L.; Jayawickramarajah, Janarthanan; Gouloumis, Andreas; Dan Pantos, G.; Torres, Tomas; Guldi, Dirk M.  Guanosine and fullerene derived de-aggregation of a new   phthalocyanine-linked cytidine derivative.    Tetrahedron  (2006),  62(9),  2123-2131.

[3]   Sessler, Jonathan L.; Jayawickramarajah, Janarthanan.  Functionalized base-pairs: versatile scaffolds for self-assembly.    Chemical Communications 2005, (15),  1939-1949.

[4]   Sessler, J. L.; Jayawickramarajah, J.; Sherman C. L.; Brodbelt, J. S. Enhancing Hoogsteen Interactions: A pyrrole-containing Purine Nucleoside that Competes with Guanosine Self-Assembly. J. Am. Chem. Soc.  2004, 126, 11460-11461.