New photo-CIDNP hyperpolarization NMR methods to study small molecules and biomolecules.

NMR spectroscopy is an extremely powerful analytical method for characterising molecules of various origins (synthetic, biological) and their mixtures in terms of structure, dynamics and molecular interactions, but also for determining the absolute or relative concentrations of the elements composing a mixture and the presence or absence of a particular molecule. This spectroscopy has therefore become a major technique in both academic research and industry for better characterising samples used in health, agri-food, energy, etc. However, this technique suffers from a fundamental limitation in terms of sensitivity, severely limiting its ability to study compounds in low concentrations. The aim of the thesis will be to exploit and improve an original hyperpolarisation approach based on the photo-CIDNP technique. This technique allows for an increase in sensitivity over several orders of magnitude but is still relatively undeveloped and limited to a few atomic sites. During the thesis, we will improve the technique to extend polarisation to adjacent sites and apply it to a variety of molecules with different properties (natural products, therapeutic peptides, proteins, antibodies). The new methods proposed will open up new analytical possibilities for NMR at the interface of chemistry and biology.

The PhD student will be supervised at ICSN by Ewen Lescop (icsn.cnrs.fr/cv/lescop) and Gaetan Herbette and at Eurofins by Romuald Manca and Bintou Waggeh and will benefit from the support of other members of the teams on biochemical, NMR and structural biology aspects.

With a staff of nearly 140 people, ICSN (http://icsn.cnrs.fr) is the chemistry centre of the CNRS campus in Gif sur Yvette, 30 km south of Paris by train RER B. The Institute is located on the edge of the Paris-Saclay campus, which brings together nearly 15% of French research, and is an integral part of this new University. ICSN develops activities at the chemistry-biology interface, with natural substances as the object of study and main source of inspiration. ICSN is organised in four research departments and has important analytical platforms. The PhD thesis will be carried out within the NMR - Structural Biology and Chemistry team that is responsible for a high field NMR facility that is part of the national infrastructures Infranalytics and Frisbi.

Eurofins Scientific through its subsidiaries is a world leader in food, environment, pharmaceutical and cosmetic product testing, discovery pharmacology, forensics, advanced material sciences, and in agroscience Contract Research services.

Engineer or holder of a master's degree in physical chemistry or analytical chemistry with a strong focus on spectroscopy and an interest in (1) the structural characterization of small molecules and biomacromolecules and (2) the development of new methodologies.