HyperiPhen - Hypericin derivatives as a precursor for graphen-like 2D-materials
From the plant to innovative high-tech material – Hypericin derivatives extracted from Hypericum as a precursor for the biotechnological synthesis of novel graphen-like 2D-materials (HyperiPhen)
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – the basic structure of graphen – offer a high potential for the development of 2-dimensional high-tech materials. The naturally occurring chromophore hypericin, found in some species of the genus Hypericum, especially in Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s wort), is widely used as a healing agent due to their variety of medicinal properties. Due to its molecular structure, hypericin also has the potential to represent a precursor for the synthesis of graphen like derivatives. A targeted doping with heteroatoms may influence the electronic properties of the aforementioned materials. The project aims to establish a method for isolation and purification of hypericin directly from plant tissue in order to generate and modify graphen-like structures. Then, the extracted molecules will be doped to modify their electronic properties, and thus, to achieve an electric conductivity. The determination of hypericin and their derivatives and other precursor molecules of Hypericum perforatum and Hypericum species will be correlated with phenotypic attributes and their habitat. A high-resolution genotyping approach of Hypericum species and populations will provide information on the genetic diversity. These data are also used for association studies and the development of markers for screening the hypericin content of plant material.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Stefan Wanke (e-mail)
Dr. Anja Wenke (e-mail)
Dr. Julia Naumann (e-mail)
Collaborators:
Prof. Dr. Jan J. Weigand – Chair of Inorganic Molecular Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, TU Dresden homepage
ASGEN GmbH & Co KG – homepage
Funding:
Sächsische AufbauBank (SAB)