Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry - Welcome to the Lichtenecker Group

We are a team of scientists working at the frontier of organic chemistry to other disciplines like biological chemistry and structural biology. We focus on the implementation of small molecules as tools to study complex biological systems. In our current projects, we design 13C, 15N and 2H labeled metabolic amino acid precursor compounds, which can be used in cell-based protein overexpression. The target proteins show distinguished isotope patterns and represent valuable probes for biomolecular NMR experiments. Learn more about our research, see some structures of our labeled precursor compounds or read through our list of publications. If you need further information or want to collaborate on an interesting research topic don't hesitate to write to roman.lichtenecker@univie.ac.at.

 

Moreover, we are very active in teaching different aspects of chemistry at the University of Vienna with currently 5 lectures and 2 seminars per year.  We additionally offer courses for advanced chemistry students within the context of our research projects.

 

The project "Allospace" is funded by the FWF-ANR (project I5812).

Together with collaboration partners from France (D. Madern - CNRS; G. Santoni - ESRF; C. Brochier-Armanet - Univ. Lyon; F. Sterpone - CNRS; C. Barette - CEA) and Austria (P. Schanda - ISTA) we investigate the mechanisms and evolutionary origin of enzymatic allostery.

We are now part of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for knowledge-based structural biology and biotechnology

Together with our partner Prof. Robert Konrat (Univ. Vienna) and our industry collaborator Boeringer-Ingelheim, we investigate novel ways to probe the interaction of biomolecules using NMR techniques.

Recent publications

Decorating phenylalanine side-chains with triple labeled 13C/19F/2H isotope patterns. J. Biomol. NMR 2024, accepted for publication 4.3.2024

G. Toscano, J. Holzinger, B. Nagl, G. Kontaxis, H. Kählig, R. Konrat and R.J. Lichtenecker

13Cβ-Valine and 13Cγ-Leucine Methine Labeling To Probe Protein Ligand Interaction. ChemBioChem 2024, published online 31.1.2024, doi.org/10.1002/cbic.202300762

G. Toscano, T. Höfurthner, B. Nagl, A. Beier, M. Mayer, L. Geist, D.B. McConnell, H. Weinstabl, R. Konrat, R.J. Lichtenecker

Synthesis of a 13C-methylene-labeled isoleucine precursor as a useful tool for studying protein side-chain interactions and dynamics. J. Biomol. NMR 2023, published online 11.10.2023, doi.org/10.1007/s10858-023-00427-2

T. Höfurthner, G. Toscano, G. Kontaxis, A, Beier, M. Mayer, L. Geist, DB. McConnell, H. Weinstabl, R. Lichtenecker*, R. Konrat*

E. coli "Stablelabel" S30 lysate for optimized cell-free NMR sample preparation. J. Biomol. NMR 2023, 77, 131- 147.

R. Levin, F. Löhr, B. Karakoc, R. Lichtenecker, V. Dötsch, F. Bernhard*

The rigid core and flexible surface of amyloid fibrils probed by Magic-Angle Spinning NMR of aromatic residues. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, 19, e202219314

L.M. Becker, M. Berbon, A. Vallet, A. Grelard, E. Morvan, B. Bardiaux, R. Lichtenecker, M. Ernst, A. Loquet, P. Schanda*

Choose "Publications" in the Menu for more information.

Recent Group News

Our article "Synthesis and application of a novel Isoleucine methylene 13C precursor" was published online!

We developed a novel synthetic route to a methylene 13C isoleucine precursor. Giorgia Toscano synthesized special isotope patterns of alpha-ketobutyrate starting from 13C-iodomethane and D2O. Together with Theresa Höfurthner and our team from the Christian Doppler Laboratory for high-content structural biology and biotechnology, the resulting new labeling strategy was applied to determine protein dynamics and interaction by recording triple quantum HTQC spectra. Our studies were published in the Journal of Biomolecular NMR on October 11th 2023.

Sarah Kratzwald finished her Master project with a defence at the TU Vienna on October 2nd 2023! Her thesis entitled "Design and Synthesis of Isotope-Labeled Amino Acids and Precursors for Protein NMR Characterization" deals with elegant ways of histidine isotope labeling, as well as producing 13C Phosphotyrosine building blocks. Congratulations Sarah!

Visit "News" in the Menu for more information.

This Semester's Teaching

270032 VO Organische Chemie II für LA - Chemie
270071 VO Einführung in die Chemie und biologische Chemie der Kohlenhydrate
270084 VO Ausgewählte Kapitel der Bioorganischen Chemie
270279 PR Fortgeschrittenenpraktikum Bioorganische Chemie
300030 UE Chemische Übungen für Biologen
330001 UE Chemische Übungen - für Ernährungswissenschaften
530007 SE Aktuelle Probleme aus Bioorganischer Chemie