Royal Society University Research Fellow and Lecturer
1 South 1.54c
Email: S.Pascu@bath.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1225 386627
Dr Sofia Pascu
Profile
For more details, please see the Pascu group page.
Research interests
Sofia Pascu’s group specialises in small molecule inorganic and organic synthetic techniques and in supramolecular chemistry to assemble new functional materials as drug delivery probes for biosensing, molecular imaging of cancer cells, as well as for photovoltaic and sustainable catalysis applications.
New materials, including Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes, graphene and graphene oxides are synthesised and characterised in the group using AFM, synchrotron X-ray diffraction techniques, NMR, EPR, RAMAN, confocal fluorescence, SEM and HRTEM.
The current group is formed by six PhD students, one PDRA (jointly with Chemical Engineering) and four undergraduates (MRes/Mchem) working in sustainable chemistry (Fischer Tropsch catalysis, CO2 storage/conversion, dye-sensitised solar cells), inorganic and supramolecular chemistry, metals in medicine, nanomedicine and multimodal molecular imaging (optical/Positron Emission Tomography).
Research in the group is sponsored by the Royal Society, EPSRC, MRC, ORS, University of Bath, Nikon Bioimaging UK Ltd. and STFC.
Background
- 1997 First class MSc in Chemistry, University of Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania, Romania.
- 1997-1998 OSI/FCO/British Chevening Scholarship, St Catherine’s College Oxford.
- 1998-2002 Devorguilla Scholarship, Balliol College, Oxford
- July 2001: Ph.D. Main Group Organometallic Chemistry, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (Supervisor: Professor Ionel Haiduc)
- March 2004: D.Phil. in Transition Metal Catalysis (Supervisor: Professor Malcolm L. H. Green FRS)
- 2002-2003 Research Associate in homogeneous Fischer Tropsch chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford University, with Professor Malcolm Green.
- 2003-2005 Research Associate in Supramolecular Chemistry, Chemistry Department, Cambridge University with Professor Jeremy K. M. Sanders FRS and Professor Andrew Holmes FRS
- 2005-2007 Draper’s Company Research Fellowship, St Anne’s College Oxford and Royal Society URF (Oxford 2005-2007 and Bath 2007-Date).
- October 2010 – Date: Royal Society URF and Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry, Bath
For a full list of published work see my Researcher-ID.
Publications
Waghorn, P. A., Jones, M. W., Theobald, M. B., Arrowsmith, R. L., Pascu, S. I., Botchway, S. W., Faulkner, S. and Dilworth, J. R., 2013. Shining a light on the stability of metal thiosemicarbazonate complexes in living cells by FLIM. Chemical Science, 4 (4), pp. 1430-1441.
O'Byrne, J., Owen, R., Minett, D., Pascu, S. I., Plucinski, P. K., Jones, M. D. and Mattia, D., 2013. High CO2 and CO conversion to hydrocarbons using bridged Fe nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes. Catalysis Science and Technology, 3 (5), pp. 1202-1207.
Fossey, J.S., D'Hooge, F., van den Elsen, J.M.H., Pereira Morais, M.P., Pascu, S.I., Bull, S.D., Marken, F., Jenkins, A.T.A., Jiang, Y.-B. and James, T.D., 2012. The development of boronic acids as sensors and separation tools. Chemical Record, 12 (5), pp. 464-478.
Pascu, S. I., Arrowsmith, R. L., Riss, P., Aigbirhio, F. I. and Hu, Z., 2012. Studies towards the Ga-68, Cu-64, Zr-89 and In-111 radiolabelling of small molecules and nanoparticles-multimodality PET or SPECT and optical imaging devices. Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals, 53 (3), pp. 127-128.
Hu, Z., Pantoș, G. D., Kuganathan, N., Arrowsmith, R., Jacobs, R. M. J., Kociok-Köhn, G., O'Byrne, J., Jurkschat, K., Burgos, P., Tyrrell, R. M., Botchway, S. W., Sanders, J. K. M. and Pascu, S. I., 2012. Interactions between amino acid-tagged naphthalenediimide and single walled carbon nanotubes for the design and construction of new bioimaging probes. Advanced Functional Materials, 22 (3), pp. 503-518.
D'Hooge, F., Elfeky, S. A., Flower, S., Pascu, S. I., Jenkins, A. T. A., van den Elsen, J., James, T. and Fossey, J., 2012. Biotinylated boronic acid fluorophore conjugates: quencher elimination strategy for imaging and saccharide detection. RSC Advances, 2, pp. 3274-3280.
Pawlicki, M., Morisue, M., Davis, N. K. S., McLean, D. G., Haley, J. E., Beuerman, E., Drobizhev, M., Rebane, A., Thompson, A. L., Pascu, S. I., Accorsi, G., Armaroli, N. and Anderson, H. L., 2012. Engineering conjugation in para-phenylene-bridged porphyrin tapes. Chemical Science, 3 (5), pp. 1541-1547.
Chapman, M. and Pascu, S. I., 2012. Nanomedicines design: approaches towards the imaging and therapy of brain tumours. Journal of Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology, S4, 0006.
Arrowsmith, R. L., Pascu, S. I. and Smugowski, H. J., 2012. New developments in the biomedical chemistry of metal complexes : from small molecules to nanotheranostic design. In: Organometallic Chemistry. Cambridge: RSC.
Tong, L. H., Pengo, P., Clegg, W., Lowe, J. P., Raithby, P. R., Sanders, J. K. M. and Pascu, S. I., 2011. Complexes of aryl-substituted porphyrins and naphthalenediimide (NDI): Investigations by synchrotron X-ray diffraction and NMR spectroscopy. Dalton Transactions, 40 (41), pp. 10833-10842.
Arrowsmith, R. L., Zeglis, B. M., Viola-Villegas, N., Divilov, V., Jones, M., Waghorn, P. A., Phillips, F. L., Mindt, T. L., Eggleston, I. M., Botchway, S. W., Dilworth, J. R., Aigbirhio, F. I., Lewis, J. S. and Pascu, S. I., 2011. Fluorescent copper(II), gallium(III) and indium(III) bis(thiosemicarbazonates): radiolabeling, cellular confocal fluorescence and PET imaging studies. Journal of Labelled Compounds & Radiopharmaceuticals, 54 (Supplement 1), S59.
Arrowsmith, R. L., Waghorn, P. A., Jones, M. W., Bauman, A., Brayshaw, S. K., Hu, Z. Y., Kociok-Kohn, G., Mindt, T. L., Tyrrell, R. M., Botchway, S. W., Dilworth, J. R. and Pascu, S. I., 2011. Fluorescent gallium and indium bis(thiosemicarbazonates) and their radiolabelled analogues: Synthesis, structures and cellular confocal fluorescence imaging investigations. Dalton Transactions, 40 (23), pp. 6238-6252.
Ellul, C. E., Reed, G., Mahon, M. F., Pascu, S. I. and Whittlesey, M. K., 2010. Tripodal N-heterocyclic carbene complexes of palladium and copper: Syntheses, characterization, and catalytic activity. Organometallics, 29 (18), pp. 4097-4104.
Pascu, S. I., Waghorn, P. A., Arrowsmith, R. L., Bayly, S. R., Dilworth, J. R., Christlieb, M., Tyrrell, R. M., Zhong, J. L., Kowalczyk, R. M., Collison, D., Churchill, G. C. and Aigbirhio, F. I., 2010. Fluorescent copper(II) bis(thiosemicarbazonates): from synthesis to radiolabelling, in vitro cytotoxicity and confocal fluorescence microscopy. Journal of Labelled Compounds & Radiopharmaceuticals, 53 (7-8), pp. 527-528.
Tong, L. H., Wong, Y.-L., Pascu, S. I. and Dilworth, J. R., 2010. An unprecedented iron(III) complex supported by an asymmetric N-capped tripodal ligand incorporating the NO2S donor set. Inorganica Chimica Acta, 363 (6), pp. 1297-1300.
Pascu, S. I., Balazs, G., Green, J. C., Green, M. L. H., Vei, I. C., Warren, J. E. and Windsor, C., 2010. Synthesis and structural investigations of Ni(II)- and Pd(II)-coordinated α-diimines with chlorinated backbones. Inorganica Chimica Acta, 363 (6), pp. 1157-1172.
Pascu, S. I., Waghorn, P. A., Kennedy, B. W. C., Arrowsmith, R. L., Bayly, S. R., Dilworth, J. R., Christlieb, M., Tyrrell, R. M., Zhong, J., Kowalczyk, R. M., Collison, D., Aley, P. K., Churchill, G. C. and Aigbirhio, F. I., 2010. Fluorescent Copper(II) Bis(thiosemicarbazonates): Synthesis, structures, electron paramagnetic resonance, radiolabeling, in vitro cytotoxicity and confocal fluorescence microscopy studies. Chemistry - An Asian Journal, 5 (3), pp. 506-519.
Clarke, C. S., Haynes, D. A., Smith, J. N. B., Batsanov, A. S., Howard, J. A. K., Pascu, S. I. and Rawson, J. M., 2010. The effect of fluorinated aryl substituents on the crystal structures of 1,2,3,5-dithiadiazolyl radicals. CrystEngComm, 12 (1), pp. 172-185.
Pascu, S. I., Arrowsmith, R. L., Bayly, S. R., Brayshaw, S. and Hu, Z., 2010. Towards nanomedicines: design protocols to assemble, visualize and test carbon nanotube probes for multi-modality biomedical imaging. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A - Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences, 368 (1924), pp. 3683-3712.
Chan, K. L., Sims, M., Pascu, S. I., Ariu, M., Holmes, A. B. and Bradley, D. D. C., 2009. Understanding the Nature of the States Responsible for the Green Emission in Oxidized Poly(9,9-dialkylfluorene)s: Photophysics and Structural Studies of Linear Dialkylfluorene/Fluorenone Model Compounds. Advanced Functional Materials, 19 (13), pp. 2147-2154.
Pascu, S. I., 2009. CO/alkene copolymerisation reactions catalysed by chelating diphosphine, diimine and hemilabile N/O, P/O and P/N late transition metal complexes revisited. Revue Roumaine De Chemie, 54 (6), pp. 477-500.
Brown, A., Mullen, K. M., Ryu, J., Chmielewski, M. J., Santos, S. M., Felix, V., Thompson, A. L., Warren, J. E., Pascu, S. I. and Beer, P. D., 2009. Interlocked host anion recognition by an indolocarbazole-containing [2]rotaxane. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131 (13), pp. 4937-4952.
Pascu, S., Waghorn, P. A., Conry, T., Lin, B., James, C. and Zayed, J. M., 2009. Design considerations towards simultaneously radiolabeled and fluorescent imaging probes incorporating metallic species. In: Advances in Inorganic Chemistry, Vol 61: Metal Ion Controlled Reactivity. Vol. 61. San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press, pp. 131-178.
Theobald, M. B., Bayly, S. R., Dilworth, J. R., King, R. C., Jones, M. W. and Pascu, S. I., 2009. New copper-64 complexes for imaging hypoxia. Journal of Labelled Compounds & Radiopharmaceuticals, 52, S485-S485.
Lovett, J. E., Hoffmann, M., Cnossen, A., Shutter, A. T. J., Hogben, H. J., Warren, J. E., Pascu, S. I., Kay, C. W. M., Timmel, C. R. and Anderson, H. L., 2009. Probing flexibility in Porphyrin-based molecular wires using double electron electron resonance. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131 (38), pp. 13852-13859.
Sheldrake, H. M., Jamieson, C., Pascu, S. and Burton, J. W., 2009. Synthesis of the originally proposed structures of elatenyne and an enyne from Laurencia majuscula. Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 7 (2), pp. 238-252.
Carabineiro, S. A., Bellabarba, R. M., Gomes, P. T., Pascu, S. I., Veiros, L. F., Freire, C., Pereira, L. C. J., Henriques, R. T., Oliveira, M. C. and Warren, J. E., 2008. Synthesis, Structure and Magnetic Behavior of Five-Coordinate Bis(iminopyrrolyl) Complexes of Cobalt(II) containing PMe3and THF Ligands. Inorganic Chemistry, 47 (19), pp. 8896-8911.
Pascu, S. I., Kuganathan, N., Tong, L. H., Jacobs, R. M. J., Barnard, P. J., Chu, B. T., Huh, Y., Tobias, G., Salzmann, C. G., Sanders, J. K. M., Green, M. L. H. and Green, J. C., 2008. Interactions between tripodal porphyrin hosts and single walled carbon nanotubes: an experimental and theoretical (DFT) account. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 18 (24), pp. 2781-2788.
Barnard, P., Bayly, S., Betts, H., Bonnitcha, P., Christlieb, M., Dilworth, J., Holland, J. and Pascu, S., 2008. Towards new copper based radiopharmaceuticals. The Quarterly Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, 52 (2), pp. 174-184.
Pascu, S. I., Waghorn, P. A., Conry, T. D., Lin, B., Betts, H. M., Dilworth, J. R., Sim, R. B., Churchill, G. C., Aigbirhio, F. I. and Warren, J. E., 2008. Cellular confocal fluorescence studies and cytotoxic activity of new Zn(II) bis(thiosemicarbazonato) complexes. Dalton Transactions, 2008 (16), pp. 2107-2110.
Tong, L. H., Wietor, J.-L., Clegg, W., Raithby, P. R., Pascu, S. I. and Sanders, J. K. M., 2008. Supramolecular assemblies of tripodal porphyrin hosts and C60. Chemistry - A European Journal, 14 (10), pp. 3035-3044.
Yau, C. M. S., Pascu, S. I., Odom, S. A., Warren, J. E., Klotz, E. J. F., Frampton, M. J., Williams, C. C., Coropceanu, V., Kuimova, M. K., Phillips, D., Barlow, S., Brédas, J.-L., Marder, S. R., Millar, V. and Anderson, H. L., 2008. Stabilisation of a heptamethine cyanine dye by rotaxane encapsulation. Chemical Communications, 2008 (25), pp. 2897-2899.
Mak, S. Y. F., Curtis, N. R., Payne, A. N., Congreve, M. S., Wildsmith, A. J., Francis, C. L., Davies, J. E., Pascu, S. I., Burton, J. W. and Holmes, A. B., 2008. Synthesis of (+)-Obtusenyne. Chemistry - A European Journal, 14 (9), pp. 2867-2885.
Tong, L. H., Wong, Y.-L., Pascu, S. I. and Dilworth, J. R., 2008. Synthesis, structures and catalytic properties of iron(iii) complexes with asymmetric N-capped tripodal NO3 ligands and a pentadentate N2O3 ligand. Dalton Transactions, 2008 (35), pp. 4784-4791.
