Syntetik TOM

Recently as I was updating my CV, I recalled our efforts to patent work at IMB, Prague, The Czech Academy of Sciences. We aimed to prepare multivalent polymers with saccharides in galacto-configuration, that act as galectin inhibitors. Such glycopolymers could be effeciently used as therapeutics to prevent cancer types connected with galectin-3 overexpression. I co-authored the patent and was in charge of designing, synthetizing and purifing functionalized thio-di-galactoses. Originally, single patent application was thought to be a result of our work, however the outcome is 3 separate patents as the structures within patents are so variable, that they could not be included in single patent. Well, learning this from Pavla was such a nice news, I have to admit. Truth is, the whole process from Patent's submission to approval took almost 4 years! Here are the patents to have a look at: Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry and Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences. Gl...

 It has been busy, rough, stressful and hopeless at times ... but I managed somehow to proceed towards final stages of my synthetic route. I am almost there. Few weeks are left and I am counting my days as PhD scholar. Soon, very soon these days are over. Inj the coming post I would like to summarize what I was involved during my past several months, better explain what I have learned and what my future aspirations may be. I believe that this stressful time of writting my Thesis down will go just fine and new horizons in industry will be soon reachable. Talk to you soon.

I was born in Slovakia in 1990. My parents and their families have lived in previous regime. They disliked it very much. They were tremendously excited for freedom coming in democracy package thanks to Velvet revolution. It was not all easy especially during Mečiarizmus era, but we made it to EU and NATO. Thanks godness! I remember them being truly happy about joining European community.  When I was little, My father told me: You know, I used to dream about being born in Switzerland, but I could have also been born in some poor African country or harshly opressing land. That made me think a lot. I have this conversation vividly in my mind, as if it was just days back. How about being born and lived in Ukraine? I disagree with the oppression, that people of Ukraine experience. It is pointless war. Barbarian attack. Sad, very sad. People are dying. Families are torn apart. Fatherless children, hopeless mothers.  As a scientist, father and son, I ask myself - what would I do - in...

Sú tomu približne 2 týždne, kedy počty infikovaných začali v Rakúsku pomaly stúpať. Moje ranné čítanie novín v metre si povšimlo túto vec: Rozdiel v opatrení medzi Slovenskom a Rakúskom. Rakúšania sú si príchodom omikronu istí. Odmietajú ďalší lockdown a preto opätovne vyzývajú k rešpektovaniu a dodržiavaniu opatrení (nosenie FFP2 nasiek aj vonku v prípade rušných miest, povinné očkovanie a aj trapná očkovacia lotéria).  Preklikol som na slovenské správy a prišlo mi, že z opatrení sa upúšťa. Rozumiem, ekonomika musí šlapať, ale šírenie vírusu nezastavíme tým, že si budeme nahrávať, že situácia s mutantom delta je za nami a omikron bude "hádam" len takou vysokonákazlivou chrípočkou.   Hovorím preto manželke, že pri tak smutne nízkej zaočkovanosti oboch krajín (druhodávkari 74.7% vs 46.3%, s posilňujúcou dávkou 48.1% vs 22.7% [ Rakúsko vs. Slovensko], 17/01/2022) je na mieste pýtať sa, prečo ľudia na Slovensku žijúci s ca. 20% menej zaočkovanou populáciou idú do boja s o...

 It is Saturday, Dec. 18, day after the last group meeting of 2021. On Friday, we exchanged few small Christmas presents as SUGAR&INI research group. The message reads this:  Dear all, thank you so much for your Christmas presents! Especially , I thank you all for your dedicated work on the projects, for your creativity,  dedication and enthusiasm,  for your excellent team work and endurance in these uneasy times.  I wish you all health, happiness and success in the coming year. Alla It just warmed my heart. It is good to know, you work under the supervision of somebody, that cares and appreciate your efforts. What a feeling! It really did excite me for the upcoming year 2022. 👦💨✌ Merry Christmas, everyone (and chemists especially)!

 As a synthetic organic chemist, I spend hours and hours in the lab performing experiments. Another chunk of my time is spent by the computer to analyze the data, writing reports, presentations, networking with other scientists, that may turn out to be my future colaborators and dear life-long friends. A week has 7 days, but spending them all in work are debilitating (I did this for 2,5 weeks in a row at my first employer, just to see how it feels). I found myself to be less creative and uninventive, working more in a robotic fashion.  As we speak more openly and more often about the work-life balance, I appreciate having weekends off. I love Saturdays especially. I call it a day for a trip or as I would tell Anetka, our 2 year-old daughter "Ideme na výlet". It is the time, when I can solely spend valuable moments with my daughter. Although, she is still unable to understand things I say, I can sense, she enjoys me talking to her ... and who knows, perhaps she actually gets s...

 It has been a while since I posted on my blog. Early this year I set up some goals to reach by The end of The year 2021. Major one was to present at ACS Fall 2021 Conference in Atlanta, US.  Although I could not travel to Atlanta, I shared my results with a carbohydrate community. Surely, lots of things had to be finished in order to have a sufficient material to present. So, starting with May 2021, I fell into a lab rat mode - doing my best during regular 6:50 - 16:30 synthetic lab time followed by NMR checks, data updates, presentation preparations etc, after kids were sound asleep. At The end I did have enough material to confidently share my work. Brat in mind, that I am in 1,5 yrs of PhD program with 2,5 months gone from The lab due to COVID-19 with additional compulsary shift schedule ... Two weeks prior to conference, I Went on to slides’ preparation.

 Covid year 2020 was followed by lockdown here and there in the first third of 2021. First Shifts that robbed us off our precious time. Then luckily antigen testing at BOKU allowed us to not be restricted to any shift system but we could work freely with FFP2 masks distanced apart.  Honestly for the past 2 months I have not felt any restrictions which I very much appreciate. Now, of we under attack of covid mutations, all these precautionary matters should us safe and productive. My wish is that everyone gets vaccinated and use common sense, so our economy and social life can be fully restored in near future. Stay safe - stay healthy! 😷🤗

 One thing that helps me since MSc. studies is to plan my work ahead.  Part of my Fridays’ schedules is taken by weekly planning , when I forsee all the reactions, column separations, NMR measurements, meetings, literature reading sections etc. Weekly planning is usually quick.  Daily planning , on the other hand, is more specific and takes more time. Afternoon before, I calculate all the reagents’ ammounts needed, check my dry solvents and do a bit of mental exercise, when I imagine the procese of running the reaction in great detail. You know, once you put all in, reaction clock is ticking! I picture my reaction ahead of time in my mind. Many times, have I realized that procedure could be improved or found mistake in a protocol, I was “almost blindly” following. Picture your day in my mind so your work does not go wasted!  Here is a helpful material for synthetic chemists.

 Global COVID-19 pandemic turned our attention to scientific solutions. This saved milions of lives and will continue to save many. As the societies went into multiple lockdowns, economy got hurt. There is a saying "What does not kill you, will make you stronger". Well, it seems that EU countries more or less survived and their economies are to be built back again within next few years.  What can I do about it as a chemist? Work harder and smarter! Many had been taking "time-off" and misusing this time. As an organic chemist, I spent 2.5 months of spring 2020 lockdown doing extensive literature search for my project. I was reviewing plethora of synthetic papers. On top of that, I participated in biotechnology learning platform Lifbee academy in  order to learn new skills. Honestly, I worked harder than before. Sure, I missed lab bench, performing manual synthesis ... nevertheless ... those days were not wasted, but invested in, as I see it. Prior to pandemic, we had...

V tejto koronovej dobe často počujeme o tom, ako slovenské zdravotníctvo a školstvo nieje stavané na pandemické situácie. Súhlasím s tým a dodávam, že ani žiadny systém vo svete nie je na niečo podobné stavaný.  Korona 2020 Trápi ma však, s čím všetkým dokážeme obviniť premiéra Matoviča a vládnu koalíciu. Zameriam sa na jednu vec, a to vzdelávanie súčasnej a budúcej generácie, lebo to si želám pozitívne ovplyvniť.  Z osobnej skúsenosti viem, že výuka na školách nie je tip-top . Viete, chýba mi väčšia zanietenosť zo strany študentov aj učiteľov. Otvorené diskusie bez strachu pýtať sa ( áno, aj hlúpe otázky ) , otázky na neľahké témy, odvaha vyučujúcich ísť vlastnou cestou výuky – ak je správna at ď. A klasika : n eustále sa niekto sťažuje. Za známky, za zbytočnosť toho predmetu, tej látky, učiva či spôsobu predania informácií.  A do toho korona 2020. Práve vďaka zanietených jedincom, ktorí v marci podali po...

Covid jar 2020 Aj vy ste si povšimli, že včera bolo piatok 13-teho? Nie som poverčivý … ALE … piatok, 13. Marec 2020 pre mňa znamenal stopku v lab práci a home office na naseldujúcich pár týždňov. Vo štvrtok 12.11 podvečer dokončujem týždennú pracovnú prezentáciu, nakoniec pridávam dátum 13.11 enter… uff a tiež mi d ôjde, že zajtra je piatok. Vravím si, nasadená reakcia cez noc je pohoda, nerefluxujem to, pod argónom to je, všetky kyvety so vzácnymi štofmi sú v chladničke a zajtra urobím 2-3 mini chromatografie, group meeting (GM) o 13tej a víkend je tu. Piatok je tu Ale ale ... už iba ten nápis v novinách ma zneistil „Schulsperren in ganz Österreich “ ... „Stehen wir vor zweiten Lockdown?“. No, hádam nie, vravím si. Tak to rozbehnem v robote hneď z rána, nech mi ten piatok rýchlo prejde. Mojou piatočnou špecialitkou je že, v d ô sledku celotýždňovej únavy, vždy rozbijem nejaké to sklo (ak mi nevypadne nejak á mini skúmavka, tak aspoň ka...

While supervising my Bc. student, I challenged him to take pictures while doing lab work. I personally do it while it catched the most interesting moments in the life of chemist that also appeal to wide audience. It just happened, that Paul was performing a reaction in pyridine, that was later on quenched with triethylamine. We both witnessed few color changes, while doing the workup.\ Challenge accepted – bubble gum created 😀 So we took some pictures, chose one that I called a „pinky beauty“, posted them on my instagram account . The following morning (I am an early bird, you know, so 05:05 AM), I found out, that IKAworld reposted our picture with a description „Bubble gum (🍬)“. What a surprise, I have to say! After couple days, the number of likes landed at 404 .  I was very pleased, that IKA shared our content to much wider science audience and Paul was also surprised that his picture made it all the way to IKA’s content. Sy...

Since the beginning of July 2020, as we gotten back to full-speed mode in the lab, I have been supervising 2 Bc. students. My perspective on why this work is challenging, but also rewarding. Learning the basics There are typically lab assignments each lab member is given. Cleaning chores, solvents preparations on weekly basis, massive Christmas clean-up just to name a few. Part of PhD. Studies is to supervise a Bc. or MSc. Student over few weeks, teach him/her the basics of working in the lab including correct techniques used in my case in the field of organic chemistry. Weighting the compounds, looking for the safety and correct use of the chemical, planning and setting up the reaction, running TLC plates in right eluent systems, quenching the reaction, water-orgo extractions, column purifications. Surely, these things could be learnt on his/her own, but it cannot compare with having a more experienced chemist on your side, guiding you through these first days in the...

We are slowly returning to our „new normal“ at BOKU, Vienna. Generally, we work in 2 shifts trying to avoid as much of a contact as possible. We wear face-nose mask protection at all times in addition to regular pre-COVID times. One of the new stress factors is to finish all that you plan within 6 hours of your shift. Briefly, I would like to share a story that happened this week. Personally, I will remember this for a while. Shift is yours - use it your very best Within this time span of 6 hours , I planned to perform a more-or-less quick triflation reaction, that would be followed by azidation reaction taking place overnight to satisfy the requirement of an extended reaction time. At the beginning of my shift I felt like I am going to make this without any problems and so it went like as well. I got the spot of my formed triflate, let it evaporate, HV-line for an hour to get nice yellowish crusty solid material in a quantitative yield. As I calculated the excessive amount of s...

Korona pandémia „uväznila“, tak ako mnohých, na práci z domu. Pre syntetického chemika to znamená, že lúšti a interpretuje NMR spektrá pripravených látok, pracuje na manuskripte review, ktorú by rád publikoval, brainstormuje nové spôsoby prípravy látok. K tomu sleduje webináre o možných kandidátoch n a liečbu COVIDu-19. Síce nepracuje, tak ako každý deň v labáku, kde robí spoločnosť odparkám a jeho práca je hmatateľná na množstve a čistote pripravených látok , ale aj „homeofficová“ práca človeka vyťaží. Nemyslel som si to, ale bolo tomu tak. Ako ranné vtáča vstávam pred 6tou, aby som sa rozbehol a musím povedať, že málokedy som mal hotovo pred 16tou.  V určitom slove zmysle som som si musel navyknúť na zíranie do PC obrazovky počas celého dňa. Prešlo 10 týždňov, manuskript review sa blíži ku svojmu dokončenie, spektrá sú zinterpretované ale hranice ešte niesú pre vlakovú dopravu otvorené (polovica m ája 2020 ). Dosť unavený ale s pocito...

Keeping an early bird routine  It has been already 5 weeks since I started working in Zamyatina research group based at BOKU Wien. First days were filled with lots of trainings, safety instructions, playing hide and seek with glassware, spatulas, condensers, needles. Considering myself as an unpatient person, not everything went smoothly. I had to calculate additional 30 minutes instead of my usual 5-10 mins to prepare "stuff" for the coming day. Also my "early bird routine" as I use to come to work way early (before 7 AM) is not common in here, so starting dangerous reactions do not come in question. Nevertheless, I found work stuff to do early in the morning like running flash columns, purifying compounds, measuring NMRs or just simply updating my lab journal. At the end of the day, I keep my early-bird attributes and end accomplishing same amount of work, if not even more some days. Feeling support My supervisor and collegues are great! Especially at the v...

This year was in many ways unique and special. So the same stays true for my Christmas holidays. I usually end my lab work on 20ish of December and plan to return to the lab no sooner than New Year ’s day.  Well, this year I accumulated bunch of vacation days, that I had to completely use up before the end of 2019, as I am moving to Vienna to work as a synthetic chemist at BOKU. With this excitement of taking my skills and passion to Austria, I had to quickly close the projects I was involved at the Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences. Long-long hours, sleepovers at work, moving to Bratislava, finalizing lab reports and paper to publish, passing my know-how to my substitute, long-distance relationship with my wife and daughter. Uneasy, but we made it and are alive! Baking-my other synthetic passion Well, some of the work did not terminate as I left the work with bags of stuff my last day (Dec. 12 th , 2019). I continued to finalize our about-to-be ...

As an organic chemist working in a research lab, I spend most of the time running reactions that had never been run or casualy touched by anyone. One could truly say we are creating future by our synthetic endeavours. New materials, life-saving medicines, pesticides, fungicides, food additives are in large result of countless hours spend in the laboratories of research institutes. This is what happened yesterday: Prior to my “microwave trip”, I prepared my tin-complexed sugar compound then, lyophilized it, so in the morning it was safe and sound for my selective alkylation taking place in a microwave reactor at the Institute of Macromolecular chemistry. TLC analysis made me wonder if everything went all right, as I was marching from the institute to my “home” institute. Two varying reaction conditions were performed, the one that I was to repeat after previous successful trial (MW 30 min 80°C, 90°C, 110°C, 130° C ) did not turn out as wished. Where is the spot? W...

Vedcom zo Stanfordovej univerzity sa podarilo izolovať a štruktúrne charakterizovať dosiaľ neznámy alkaloid obsiahnutý v jede mexického škorpióna Megacormus gertschi. Následne nový alkaloid synteticky pripravili a v súčasnosti sa jeho deriváty testujú na antimikrobiálnu aktivitu a zníženie krvného tlaku. Škorpióny sú fascinujúce článkonožce, ktoré vznikli asi pred 430 miliónmi rokov v období silúru. Vo svojich jedových bodcoch produkujú cenný kokteil látok na prípravu často zatiaľ nepreskúmaných bioaktívnych zlúčenín, a aj preto sú teraz v kurze. Skryté prekvapenie Jed škorpiónov je komplexná zmes peptidov, enzýmov, glykoproteínov, jednoduchých aminokyselín, nukleotidov, lipidov či anorganických solí. Vstreknutie tohto chemického kokteilu paralyzuje korisť, a tak poskytuje zadováženie potravy a, samozrejme, aj obranu. Predpokladá sa, že škorpióny sú schopné syntetizovať viac ako 100 000 rôznych polypeptidov, z ktorých sa doteraz podarilo izolovať a biologicky testovať menej...