Availability of one experimental thesis DEB – Dr. Bruno Mattia Bizzarri

Students enrolled in our Master’s degree courses are informed that an experimental thesis is available at the Organic Chemistry Laboratory under the supervision of Prof. Raffaele Saladino.

The thesis work will focus on the following topic: “Investigation of abiotic processes for the origin of alternative life forms: the world of peptide nucleic acids.”

The physico-chemical mechanisms underlying the formation of the first organic molecules from inorganic ones present in the primordial Earth’s atmosphere are the subject of prebiotic chemistry. This field investigates all the chemical processes that lead to the development of biologically relevant organic compounds. It is well known that, in order to adapt and survive, life as we know it must possess a genetic component to transmit information accumulated during natural selection. Thus, it has been suggested that life may have begun with a self-replicating RNA molecule. However, the geochemical and geophysical conditions present on early Earth make this hypothesis unlikely. A world predating RNA, consisting of prebiotic living systems based on simpler and more robust chemical entities, could be represented by peptide nucleic acid (PNA). First described in 1991, PNA mimics DNA, where the natural nitrogenous bases are retained and linked via a methylene bridge and a carbonyl group to a backbone made up of N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine units. Since PNA forms Watson-Crick-like helices with complementary DNA, RNA, or PNA, it is of interest both as a model of primordial genetic material and for various biological applications.

The study will focus on the synthesis of PNA building block derivatives using multicomponent chemistry approaches and employing both traditional and alternative energy sources (UVB, microwaves, solar wind mimicking models). These derivatives will be characterized using absorption spectroscopy techniques (UV-Vis and FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The newly synthesized derivatives may have applications in various pharmacological contexts, such as anticancer and antiviral agents.

For more information, please contact Dr. Bruno Mattia Bizzarri – bm.bizzarri@unitus.it