Research Dr. Ulrich Lächelt

The high therapeutic potential of biomacromolecules (nucleic acids, peptides, proteins) is generally opposed by a rather low ‘drug-likeness’ and unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties, in particular poor distribution to the intracellular target site.

Our research focusses on the synthesis, characterization and application of nanopharmaceuticals for controlled delivery of drugs and biomacromolecules. For this, we use solid-phase synthesis derived oligomers and metal-organic hybrid materials.

Sequence-defined oligomers

Solid-phase synthesis derived oligomers based on artificial building blocks combine advantages of polymeric delivery systems with the chemical precision of peptides. Molecular assembly on solid-phase provides high structural flexibility for the chemical design of carriers with intended properties and implementated functions.

Selected publications

Metal-organic nanopharmaceuticals

The combination of organic building units with Lewis base function and inorganic metal ions or metal oxide clusters creates a diverse chemical space of hybrid materials. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly attractive for drug delivery since their size and porosity can be tuned and metal sites on the surface provide the possibility for coordinative binding of therapeutics.

Drug molecules with Lewis base funcions in their molecular structure can serve as organic linkers in coordination polymers themselves and enable the formation of drug-metal nanopharmaceuticals with very high drug loading capacity.

Selected publications