Chiroptical spectroscopy represents a method of structural analysis that examines the interaction between chiral, non-racemic substances and polarized light, thereby determining the spatial structure of the former. According to one of the most highly renowned chemists in this field, chirality itself is the imprint of life.
“Biopolymers that are essential for life, such as DNA, proteins, and carbohydrates, all exist in mirror image forms, one of which predominates in living organisms. Life would not exist without them. What has caused the predominance of one of these forms in living organisms is still shrouded in mystery and is the subject of heated debates. At this conference, which has been running for decades, we give lectures on the fundamental approaches to chirality. Chiral spectroscopy is also extremely important for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, as quite a few chiral drugs are only marketed in a single stereo-isomer form because the other stereo-isomers may have different, even harmful, effects,” said Nobel Prize-winning chemist Bernard L. Feringa to unideb.hu. Professor Feringa had arrived at the University of Debrecen on Monday for the 20th International Conference on Chiroptical Spectroscopy.
This conference, which is held every two years, originally started out in Central-Eastern Europe, but it is nowadays often hosted by the world's best-known cities, most recently Hiroshima or New York before that. This makes it particularly significant that Hungary is now hosting the international conference for the third time already.
“In 1987, it was Márton Kajtár who organized it in Budapest, followed by Professors Miklós Hollósy and Sándor Antus in 2003. However, this is the first time that we can welcome the most highly acclaimed representatives of this field in Debrecen. The four-day conference also intends to pay tribute and homage to Professor Koji Nakanishi, a leading researcher in acoustics stethoscopy, the 100th anniversary of whose birth we are also commemorating this time,” said professor Tibor Kurtán, Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry at the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Debrecen.
Members of Koji Nakanishi's former research group, who also specialize on the conference topic, were also invited to commemorate the distinguished researcher in two separate sections. The conference series is also celebrating the 40th anniversary of its foundation, as it was first held in Sofia in 1985.
At the University of Debrecen, it was Sándor Antus, a former head of the Department of Organic Chemistry at the Faculty of Science, who introduced chiroptical spectroscopy, while the research group that continues his work is now internationally recognized. Another iconic figure in this field was Márton Kajtár, a stereochemist in Hungary. Thus, it is no coincidence that one of his former students, András Perczel, also played an active part in organizing the conference.
“Our academic field itself is relatively narrow. So, as ever, we now have around 150 experts gathered for the conference. It is like a big family, so this meeting is both academic and friendly, around which there have been generations growing up,” said András Perczel, Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry at ELTE, Budapest.
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