Marco Agnes

Italian National Research Council | CNR · Institute for Organic Syntheses and Photoreactivity ISOF

Hypoxia occurs in different pathological settings as a consequence of poor vascularization, and it results in reduced efficacy of some current nosocomial treatments i. e. chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy. In order to overcome these boundaries, aromatic endoperoxides (EPOs) have been studied and proposed as oxygen‐releasing agents (ORAs) due to...

Water-soluble polymers of cyclodextrins (CyD) can be easily obtained in alkaline media following polycondensation of the naturally occurring monomers in the presence of a crosslinking agent. They can be further...

We report on the synthesis of β‐cyclodextrin (βCD) modified graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets, having different sized alkyl linkers (GO‐Cn‐βCD) and their exploitation as sorbent of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from drinking water. βCD were functionalized with a pending amino group, and the resulting precursors grafted to GO nanosheets by...

We explored a series of cyclodextrin (CyD) polymers composed either of a single CyD type or a mixture of two CyD types to encapsulate simultaneously different compounds with potential therapeutic interest for multimodal prostate cancer treatment. New mixed CyD polymers were prepared in alkaline water starting from the naturally occurring monomers a...

In the quest for new therapies targeting hypoxia, aromatic endoperoxides have intriguing potential as oxygen releasing agents (ORAs) able to free O2 in tissues upon suitable trigger. Four aromatic substrates were synthesized and the formation of their corresponding endoperoxides was optimized in organic solvent upon selective irradiation of Methyle...

Cyclodextrin‐based polymers can be prepared starting from the naturally occurring monomers following green and low‐cost procedures. They can be selectively derivatized pre‐ or post‐polymerization allowing to fine‐tune functionalities of ad hoc customized polymers. Preparation nowadays has reached the 100 g scale thanks also to the interest of indus...

Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization of homochiral macrocycles, in which molecular rigidity, combined with the presence of multiple functional groups, allow for the assembly of helical nanostructures. 1,1’‐bi‐2‐naphthol (Binol) units are used as robust chirality inducers, and pyridyl units embedded within the molecular frameworks al...

Limited and poor delivery of antibiotics is cited as one reason for the difficulty in treating antibiotic-resistant biofilms associated with chronic infections. We investigate the effectiveness of a positively charged, single isomer cyclodextrin derivative, octakis[6-(2-aminoethylthio)-6-deoxy]-γ-CD (γCys) to improve the delivery of antibiotics to...

Benzylpenicillin is characterized by instability in aqueous media, low oral bioavailability, and short biological half-life. Since their degradation products can cause allergic reactions, β-lactam antibiotics are supplied as a powder for injection and require special precaution when stored and re-constituted in water. An efficient method for β-lact...

Meropenem is a carbapenem antibiotic with ultrabroad spectrum of activity and active against bacterial strains resistant to other antibiotics. The drug is characterized by fast renal elimination and high instability in aqueous solution where it undergoes β-lactam ring opening with consequent loss of biological activity. The purpose of this study wa...

Rifampicin (Rif) is a broad spectrum antibiotic used as a first line agent in the treatment of mycobacterial infections. However, its low solubility and reduced stability in water limit its bioavailability, thus requiring the use of complex formulations. Here, we present a systematic study of Rif in complex with a methylated cyclodextrin, heptakis(...

In an effort to identify the optimal cyclodextrin (CD) host for delivery of penicillins to mammalian cells that will also offer protection against β-lactamase-induced hydrolysis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) have been employed to study the inclusion complexes formed in aqueous solution bet...

Cyclodextrins (CDs) and mesoporous silica particles (MSPs) have been combined as composite carriers for controlled antibiotic release. CDs were employed as “gatekeeper” agents and grafted onto MSP to retain drug molecules inside the MSP carrier. A variety of CDs (unfunctionalized, positively charged and carboxymethylated) and three different coupli...

A homochiral, square-shaped, D2 symmetrical nanosized metal-linked macrocycle is able to form stable complexes with ferrocene in polar solvents, with detection achieved by means of multiple outputs (optical/chiroptical spectroscopies and cyclic voltammetry). Selective sensing using chiroptical spectroscopy in the presence of interfering analytes is...

A combination of crystallographic and spectroscopic techniques has been used in order to address thorough purification protocols for a series of atropoisomeric 1,1’-binaphthalene-2,2’-diol (BINOL) derivatives, to be used as building blocks for chiral nanoscale constructs. The compounds were obtained following an initial electrophilic aromatic bromi...