Inorganic synthesis, EPR Spectroscopy, Copper anticancer complexes, Bioinorganic Chemistry

PhD graduate student and researcher at INN works on the synthesis and characterization of Cu(II) complexes bearing imidodiphosphinato and diimino type of ligands. The spectroscopic characterization of these complexes includes various techniques, as well as X-ray diffraction crystallography for the determination of their three-dimensional structure. The study by continuous and pulsed EPR spectroscopy (cw-EPR, ENDOR and HYSCORE) involves the analysis of electronic paramagnetic resonance spectra and their simulation, through the MATLAB program, in order to draw conclusions regarding the structural characterization of the complex compounds and is performed at INN under the supervision of Dr. G. Mitrikas. During her master's degree she worked on “Synthesis, characterization and biological activity of Cu(II) complexes with the imidodiphosphinato ligand (O,O) = [Ph₂P(O)NP(O)Ph2]^- and various diimines”  at “Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry”, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in collaboration with the “Institute of  Nanoscience and Nanotechnology”, NCSR “Demokritos” and the “Institute of Nuclear & Radiological Sciences & Technology, Energy & Safety” at  National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”. In 2017 she was awarded the scholarship from the “Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation” (HFRI) and the General Secretariat for Research Technology (GSRT), under the “HFRI PhD Fellowship grant”. Her main research interests concern the synthesis  and characterization of copper Cu(II)-N,N,O,O-chelating complexes, in order to correlate, at molecular level, their chemical properties with the structural features of these complexes, as well as the investigation of their cytotoxicity in specific cancer cell lines, as potential anticancer agents.