GRK2376 "Confinement-Controlled Chemistry"
banner
grk2376.bsky.social
GRK2376 "Confinement-Controlled Chemistry"
@grk2376.bsky.social
DFG Funded Research Training Group for "Confinement-Controlled Chemistry" at Ruhr-University Bochum and TU Dortmund.
Exciting news! Our PhD student Malte Feßner, with collaborators from the Merten group, has another great contribution, now out as a Hot Article in ChemComm! 🔥

They used matrix-isolation IR to directly observe halogen bonds in phosphine–ITFE complexes.
Congrats to Malte and all co-authors! 👏
October 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
We had a great time at our alumni meeting! 🎓
It was a wonderful chance for our PhD students and postdocs to connect with former GRK members, share experiences, and talk about life and careers after the program.
October 9, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Nice contribution from Dilber Tan and our PhD student Veronika Stoianova from Merten’s group. 🎉
They explore the different solvation environments of the peptide Ace-Trp-N(n-Pr) by combining vibrational circular dichroism spectroscopy with molecular dynamics simulations.
September 29, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by GRK2376 "Confinement-Controlled Chemistry"
Bela, Jey, Jochen, Shounak @shounakhinge.bsky.social and Sohom @sohomkundu.bsky.social presented the group´s research at the Symposium for Confinement Controlled Chemistry @grk2376.bsky.social in Bochum @ruhr-uni-bochum.de. Good to see chemistry from a different perspective! Good work everyone!
September 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
We hosted the 3rd International Symposium on Confinement-Controlled Chemistry!🚀

It was a wonderful opportunity to explore the diverse aspects of chemistry and physics under confinement and exchange ideas with leading experts in the field.
September 29, 2025 at 7:48 AM
🌞 Greetings from Indiana, USA!

Our PhD student David Ocklenburg from DVC’s group has joined Amar Flood at Indiana University Bloomington for a joint project to design charge-neutral supramolecular receptors for ions and ion pairs. Merging self-assembly, receptor design, and anion recognition.
August 25, 2025 at 11:20 AM
📢 New Paper alert!

Our PhD student Lucas Araujo from the Schäfer group reports on the properties of isocyanates using density functional theory (DFT), among other methods, to explain the so-called “bent sp carbon”. 🍌

Fantastic results, congrats to all involved! 🤩

🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
To Bend or Not to Bend: Revealing the Stereoelectronic Origin of the Distorted sp Carbon in Isocyanates
Isocyanates, conventionally depicted as R–N═C═O, exhibit a puzzling deviation from the expected linear geometry of sp-hybridized carbon centers─a structural bending that significantly influences their...
pubs.acs.org
August 15, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Paper alert! 🚀👏

Our PhD student Thais Schroeder Rossi and Maximilian Jaugstetter from Tschulik’s group just published a new paper!

Using reverse micelles as nanoreactors, they electrochemically synthesized Ag–Au nanoparticles with tunable size, composition, and structure.

doi.org/10.1039/D5TA...
Bimetallic Ag–Au nanoparticles from nanoconfinement: adjusting properties by electrochemical synthesis
Developing synthetic pathways that exhibit well-controlled yet versatile characteristics to prepare nanoparticles (NPs) with properties tailored to the desired application is a topic of continuous int...
doi.org
July 14, 2025 at 1:02 PM
🌍🍽️ What a night! This week, our GRK hosted an International Dinner, bringing together PhD researchers from all around the world.

We had an amazing variety of traditional homemade food from all around the globe. After dinner, we called it a day with a fun round of Mario Kart 🎮!
July 11, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by GRK2376 "Confinement-Controlled Chemistry"
Clemens successfully defended his PhD thesis and presented his exciting work on the characterization of chiral azacryptands by #VCDspectroscopy. Congratulations, great job!

His latest paper:
doi.org/10.1002/chem...

#phdlife #proudprof #proudpi @grk2376.bsky.social
July 8, 2025 at 6:31 PM
📢 Registration Deadline Extended!

Good news! 🎉 The registration deadline for the 3rd International Symposium on Confinement-Controlled Chemistry (Co-Co Chem 2025) has been extended to July 31, 2025.

Join us this September!

🔗 www.confinement-controlled-chemistry.de/symposium-2025.html
July 9, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by GRK2376 "Confinement-Controlled Chemistry"
Congrats to Fredde for passing her PhD today.

Great work on matrix-isolation VCD spectroscopy for the characterization of chiral high spin nitrenes and their rearrangement products.

#phdlife #proudpi @grk2376.bsky.social
July 1, 2025 at 5:52 PM
🎓🌍 We’re excited to share that Thais, one of our 2nd generation PhD students, was recently interviewed during the 74th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting! She talks about her journey from Brazil to Germany and her path in research. 🌟

womeninresearchblog.wordpress.com/2025/06/28/t...
Thais, Brazil
10 Questions with Thais Schroeder Rossi Thais from Brazil is a PhD student at Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Bochum, Germany. Thais is currently working on the electrochemical synthesis of Ag-Au nanopa…
womeninresearchblog.wordpress.com
June 30, 2025 at 1:54 PM
📢 Friendly Reminder: The deadline for registration to the 3rd International Symposium on Confinement-Controlled Chemistry (Co-Co Chem 2025) is June 30!
Don’t miss the chance to be part of this exciting event!
🔗 www.confinement-controlled-chemistry.de/symposium-2025.html
June 16, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Our PhD students Björn, Lars, and Lucas had an amazing experience at ISMSC 2025 in Kyoto. It was a productive week of scientific presentations, insightful discussions, and valuable exchange with the supramolecular chemistry community. #ISMSC2025
June 8, 2025 at 5:37 AM
🌍Dipesh Somvanshi had a fantastic time @ UC Berkeley working with Prof. Bingqing Cheng! He developed ML interatomic potentials using CACE and ran MD simulations to test if the long-range model aligns with the Debye–Hückel limiting law. Productive research and lasting connections!☀️
May 6, 2025 at 3:49 PM
🚨 The fruitful collaboration between our RTG and Berkeley brings new results! Our PhD student Melinda Nolten, with collaborators, shows that just a few percent DMSO can tune guest encapsulation in a nanocage by shifting entropy and altering host–solvent–guest interactions.
🔗 doi.org/10.1039/d5cp...
Tuning the free energy of host–guest encapsulation by cosolvent
Supramolecular hosts create unique microenvironments which enable the tuning of reactions via steric confinement and electrostatics. It has been shown that “solvent shaping inside hydrophobic cavities...
doi.org
May 5, 2025 at 2:20 PM
📢 Paper alert! In this collaboration, our PhD student Laurie Stevens, together with Emma Rossi from the Sulpizi group, used MD simulations to show that ATP clusters at high concentrations shift hydration toward adenosine, explaining its effects on protein folding and LLPS.
🔗 doi.org/10.1021/acs....
Non-monotonous Concentration Dependent Solvation of ATP Could Help to Rationalize Its Anomalous Impact on Various Biophysical Processes
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), one of the biologically most important molecules, offers certain anomalous behavior during folding and liquid–liquid phase separation of proteins and RNAs. ATP can act as...
doi.org
May 1, 2025 at 5:46 PM
🚨 We’re excited to invite you to Co-Co Chem 2025, the 3rd International Symposium on Confinement-Controlled Chemistry, taking place Sept 15–17 at Ruhr University Bochum! Featuring worldwide speakers, poster sessions & networking!
🔗 www.confinement-controlled-chemistry.de/symposium-2025.html
April 14, 2025 at 9:34 AM
📢 Paper alert: Malte Feßner from the 3rd cohort of PhD students has published his first PhD paper in PCCP! 🎉 The IR spectra of C₂F₃I in various matrix environments show that para-H₂ and Ne are better host gases than Ar, with a clear dependence on deposition temperature.

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Matrix-isolation IR spectra of iodotrifluoroethylene (C2F3I)
The infrared spectra of iodotrifluoroethylene (ITFE) recorded under matrix-isolation (MI) conditions in para-hydrogen, neon and argon were investigated. The experimental spectra were analyzed by compa...
pubs.rsc.org
April 7, 2025 at 12:30 PM
👋 Greetings from the DPG Spring Meeting in Regensburg! Our PhD students Çağrı Turan, Anna Šugai, Laurie Stevens, and Qixuan Li had a great time sharing their research and connecting with the community at #DPG2025.
March 26, 2025 at 11:15 AM
📢🎉 Our promising PhD students Frederike Beyer, Sanjana Nalige, and Gers Tusha (@gorso.bsky.social) have been awarded RTG start-up funding to launch their independent academic careers. After defending their PhDs, they will start their postdocs within the RTG in the coming months. Congratulations!
March 21, 2025 at 11:58 AM