The Affiliated Entity, Università degli Studi di Milano, will be involved in ECLIPSE with particular reference to the design, synthesis and characterization of multinuclear metal complexes.More specifically, as far as WP1 (led by the Beneficiary, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri) is concerned, the Affiliated Entity will be involved in the development of ruthenium and iridium compounds emissive in the red region and multinuclear compounds containing electroactive linkers, to demonstrate that it is possible to disconnect the complexes by a redox stimulus, and thereby reduce self-quenching that often is a bottleneck in the ECL detection. In particular highly emissive water-soluble Ru(II) and Ir(III) complexes will be exploited that must possess the following requirements:
i)the presence of S-S groups that can be broken on the electrode (reduction);
ii)highly luminescent metal complexes;
iii)negatively charged groups to enhance the solubility in water and avoid non-specific binding of proteins;
iv)the modularity of the systems.
The multiplication of the labels will allow a step further towards the simple strategy in which one single analyte can switch on several labels. Indeed, the reduction at low potential (around -1 V) of the disulfide to thiol will allow a fast destruction of the system and such a reaction can be performed directly at the electrode during the ECL process. The photophysical and electrochemical characterization of the complexeswill be done at the Affiliated Entity premises where all the spectroscopic techniques are present. Initial ECL studies can also be performed at the Affiliated Entity premises and be completed by the ECLIPSE Coordinator, Alma Mater Studiorum -Università di Bologna. The complexes generated will then be transferred to the Beneficiary, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, where they will be implemented on the nanoparticles for further studies (WP4).In addition,interactions between some complexes developed in the Actionand DNAs will be studied in WP5 at the Affiliated Entity.Together with the Beneficiary and other ECLIPSE Consortium Members, the Affiliated Entity will also contribute to the project exploitation (WP6), communication and dissemination (WP7) and management (WP8).