Keith Winstanley
Catechol based anion receptors

Project Overview

My work involves the synthesis of novel anion receptors based on catechol building blocks. I have used NMR studies along with computational fitting of the data to elucidate the different selectivities for anions of a range of different phenolic compounds. My research has applications in the development of selective receptors for medicinally important anions such as chloride. Chloride transport is of key importance in the disease cystic fibrosis - as the chloride channels that do not operate correctly in patients with this disease. Interestingly, it is known that phenolic OH groups play a crucial role in binding to anions in the chloride transport channel, and it is possible that our synthetic mimics may therefore transport chloride anions through membranes - hence offering potential therapies for patients with cystic fibrosis.

Some of my research is now published in OBC and gives an overview of how catechol can bind chloride anions as well as sensing themelectrochemically. In addition, we discovered that catechol has a selective optical response to fluoride anions. We developed a mechanistic understanding of this effect, which may be useful in the development of sarin detectors (the chemical weapon sarin hydrolyses to generate fluoride anions).

International conferences - Supramolecular Chemistry (Victoria, Canada, 2006)