Roberto Paolesse

Abstract:

Porphyrins are versatile macrocycles that fulfill vital functions in living systems; the property richness of porphyrins allows their exploitation in different application fields, and in my group we have been particularly interested in sensing applications [1]. Although it is true that monomeric porphyrins possess valuable properties, their self-assembly in sophisticated, size and shape-controlled suprastructures, conjugated with their integration with inorganic species to obtain hybrid materials, can significantly boost their potentialities, leading to advanced functional materials with improved properties. The deposition of layers of porphyrin-based materials onto the surface of different transducers [2], such as for example quartz crystal microbalances (QMB), has led to the preparation of sensor arrays successfully exploited in different application fields, such as environmental control, or medical diagnosis [3]. Furthermore, the implementation of elements of chirality on such systems widens their applicability to chiral discrimination, a challenging task for chemical sensors. Chiral porphyrin-based architectures can be obtained from either chiral or achiral platforms. The latest progress in the development of these hybrid systems will be presented and discussed.