Professor Huc has developed a unique know-how in the design, synthesis and characterization of artificial folded molecular architectures (foldamers) based on aromatic oligoamides. These objects differ notably from peptides or nucleotides, from which they are inspired, and from their analogues, and give access to structural motifs and thus to functions beyond those of biopolymers. Research topics include the development of synthetic and design methodologies towards molecular objects as large and complex as small proteins ; the investigation of receptors and molecular motors based on these folded architectures ; the study of potential biological applications of aromatic oligoamide foldamers, in particular to recognize protein surfaces ; and exploration of properties such as electron transport which may be of use in new materials.
