In his thesis, Matthias Junk takes an innovative approach to assess the local
structure and dynamics of biological and synthetic amphiphilic macromolecules
capable of transporting small molecules. Replacing the latter with stable
radicals, he uses state-of-the-art electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)
spectroscopy to describe the highly relevant transport function from the
viewpoint of the guest molecules. Such, he demonstrates that the functional
structure of human serum albumin in solution significantly differs from its
crystal structure - a consequence of the protein´s adaptability to host various
endogenous compounds and drug molecules. Further, he shows that the thermal
collapse of thermoresponsive hydrogels and dendronized polymers leads to static
and dynamic heterogeneities on the nanoscale. These heterogeneities bear
consequences for the material´s hosting properties and enable unforeseen
complex catalytic functionalities.
