Our Aims

Generation, training and transfer of knowledge

Development of creative and groundbreaking
research at the interface of Chemistry, Biology and Medicine.

Education of researchers in order they become
future leaders of academic or industrial projects.

Transferring of knowledge to Society in order
to propel economical and social progress

CIQUS - Centro Singular de Investigación en Química Biológica y Materiales Moleculares

A brand new Org. Biomol. Chem. article is already available on-line

04/16/2025

We're really pleased to share our recent OBC manuscript has been accepted, and it's now available as OA through the publisher website

We are so happy to announce here that our recent research article at Organic & Biomolecualr Chemistry, entitled " Red-shifted photoredox generation and trapping of alkyl radicals towards bioorthogonality" and authored by D. Montoto, U. Deus-Lorenzo, M. Tomás-Gamasa, J. L. Mascareñas and M. Mato, has been accepted and it's already on-line (gold Open Access).

Abstract: The photocatalytic generation and trapping of alkyl radicals is a powerful synthetic tool in organic chemistry, but it remains underexplored in biological settings. Here, we present two photoredox systems that leverage green- or red-light irradiation for the activation and subsequent Giese coupling of redox-active alkyl phthalimide esters. Besides utilizing mild low-energy light sources, these reactions operate with biocompatible BnNAH or NADH as electron donor. Notably, they display compatibility with air, water and biologically relevant conditions, including cell-culture media or even cell lysates. This work marks a significant step towards integrating synthetic alkyl-radical chemistry into biological settings.

External link: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/ob/d5ob00476d

Our first ACS Catalysis paper of this 2025 is already on-line

04/16/2025

Happy to share our more recent ACS Catal. manuscript has been accepted, and it's available through the publisher website

We are really pleased to announce here that our research article at ACS Catal., entitled "Bis-CF3-bipyridine Ligands for the Iridium-Catalyzed Borylation of N-Methylamides" and authored by D. Marcos-Atanes, G. Jiménez-Osés and J. L. Mascareñas has been accepted and it's already on-line.

Abstract: Bipyridine and phenanthroline are well-established neutral ligands for promoting iridium-catalyzed borylations of aromatic C–H bonds. However, their use with aliphatic substrates is almost uncharted. Herein we demonstrate that introducing CF substituents at the 5- and 5′-positions of bipyridine generates ligands that enable an efficient and regioselective iridium-catalyzed borylation of the methyl group in a broad variety of methylamides. The reaction shows broad functional group tolerance and exhibits remarkable selectivity, offering a powerful approach for the borylation of challenging aliphatic C–H bonds. Mechanistic investigations, including computational analysis, suggest that the accelerating effect of the ligand is likely associated with the formation of non-covalent dispersion interactions between the carbonyl amide of the substrates and the trifluoromethylated pyridine rings of the ligand.

External link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acscatal.5c00933

Our collaborators, and also academic partners for the recent awarded EIC Transition project MeDiCS, have come to Santiago for an amazing meeting, with the main purpose of already moving forward starting this exciting tech transfer project

04/04/2025

We are really happy for, over the last two days, being hosting these very special visitors: B. Sainz (IIBm) and B. Sarmento and C. Martins (i3S)

Our colleagues B. Sainz, from IIBm (CSIC-UAM), and B. Sarmento and C. Martins, from i3S (Uporto), were at Santiago de Compostela for the last two days, and we were having inspiring discussions for launching this amazing and recently granted MeDiCS project (EIC Transition 2024).

Together with two further industrial partners, MyBiotech (Germany) and Asphalion (Spain), we are looking for translating some of our latest scientific results, regarding an anticancer agent, to the clinics. In this project, we are pursuing moving from early TRL to TRL-5/6 with the collaboration of these two companies and, specially, the invaluable help of our two academic partners.

It has been a true pleasure to host those latest here, even for such a short time. The fruitful conversations have already helped us to start our collaboration ... and now we are looking forward the kick-off of this thrilling project even harder.

External link: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101214053?s=09

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Our group leader has been selected for joining the RAC, spanish Royal Academy of Science

03/31/2025

Such an honor!! Congratulations, José Luis

José Luis Mascareñas, CiQUS Principal Investigator and MetBioCat group leader, has been appointed as a full member of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences (RAC). His addition to the Physics and Chemistry section reinforces the recognition of his outstanding career in the field of biological chemistry and his contributions to developing new strategies for applying catalysis in biological environments, as well as his research in designing agents with therapeutic potential in oncology.

Official RAC website: https://rac.es/noticias/367/

External link: https://www.usc.es/ciqus/en/news/jose-luis-mascarenas-joins-royal-academy-sciences

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Synthetic models in Chemical Biology

05/01/2025

Workshop on Nanomedicine 2012. Prof. Mascareñas, ERC - Advanced Grant METBIOCAT, explains his research lines in the chemical biology field.

DNA is the key macromolecule used by nature to store the genetic information, therefore containing all the instructions that control the day-to-day function of cells. As such, it has been a traditional target for the development of different type of drugs, particularly anticancer agents. These drugs include alkylating agents, like cis-platinum and derivatives, and non-covalent binders like the anthracyclines, which interact to DNA by intercalation between base pairs. There are other types of cytotoxic non-covalent DNA binders, like distamycin or propamidine, which interact to DNA by insertion in the minor groove.

We have been interested in this latter type of molecules, because they are sequence selective and therefore provide for molecular engineering of site-specific DNA-promoted processes. In particular, we have designed and synthesized a number of variants of propamidine that work as sequence specific DNA optical sensors, or as light-activated prodrugs.

Some of the knowledge acquired in the studies of light-promoted processes has been extended to area of DNA-protein interactions. In particular, we have developed a chemical approach to control the DNA interaction of synthetic mimics of transcription factors, and expect that the tactic can be used in the future to regulate processes of gene expression.
Part of our work in this area is also focused to the construction of optical sensors that can detect minute amounts of transcription factors considered as oncogenic biomarkers, like the bZIP protein Jun.

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JOSÉ LUIS MASCAREÑAS, PhD
Principal investigator

Meet our team

José Luis Mascareñas, PhD leads this team of researchers. Find out more about him and the rest of the team in our Group members section.

Group Members

Join Us

We are always looking forward to welcoming exceptional candidates into our research Group. Please visit our Opportunities section or send us your cv.

Opportunities

Living and working in
Santiago de Compostela

Are you new to the city and its University?
We have gathered some facts and figures you may find interesting.

15ºC

Annual mean temperature. The humid oceanic climate guarantees mild weather throughout the year.

33,000

Students attend the University. With the city population around 100,000.

500

Year old University. Currently imparting more than 60 degrees.

Connected

Santiago is well connected, having its own international airport, train station, etc.

Heritage

Amongst many awards, Santiago was declared World Heritage City by UNESCO in 1985.

Galicia

Santiago de Compostela is the capital of Galicia de most Nortwestern region of Spain.

Transport

Public transport is available in order to get around the city, which is also conveniently located to visit other sites in Galicia.

Language

Spanish and Galician are the two official languages of Galicia. Your work will be carried out in English.

Resources

Official websites:
University of Santiago
Santiago Tourism
CIQUS

MetBioCat ERC Advanced Grant Project