Karl Börjesson, PhD
Phone: +46(0)31-772 30 56
E-mail: Karl.Borjesson (at) Chalmers.se
Research Interests: Organic/organometallic materials having interesting physical and/or chemical properties for use as; 1) light harvesting devices. 2) molecular electronics. 3) probes in bio/nano systems.
Brief Bio: I graduated from Chalmers University of Technology in Biotechnology 2006. My diploma work was performed at the organic chemistry division with Jerker Mårtensson as supervisor and it was centred on the syntheses of the fluorescent tricyclic cytosine base analogue tCO. After completing my undergraduate studies, I joined Prof. Bo Albinsson’s research group at the physical chemistry division at Chalmers University of Technology. I continued working with the synthesis and photophysical evaluation of fluorescent DNA base analogous under the supervision of Assistant Prof. Marcus Wilhelmsson. The highlight of this work was the presentation of the base analogues tCO and tCnitro as the world’s first DNA base analogue FRET pair. These bases are now commercial available from Glen Research. I also studied porphyrin modified DNA nanoconstructs where the porphyrins have a multifunctional role and can act as; 1) light collecting units. 2) excited state energy transfer units. 3) ligand binding sites. 4) lipid membrane anchors.
While not in the lab, I spend a lot of time taking care of my young daughter. I also enjoy physical exercise and beer crafting.
Current Research Activities: My research project involves the synthesis, physical evaluation and construction of light harvesting devices. The active molecule in the devices is an organometallic ruthenium complex that when exposed to light, isomerises to a stable high energy isomer. The photonic energy is thus accumulated as chemical energy, storable for an extensive period of time in the device. The energy can be released as heat by exposing the device to gentle heating or to a catalyst and numerous energy collect/release cycles can be performed without any sign of fatigue.
Publication list:
1. Sandin, P., Börjesson, K., Li, H., Mårtensson, J., Brown, T., Wilhelmsson, L. M., Albinsson, B."Characterization and Use of an Unprecedentedly Bright and Structurally Non-Perturbing Fluorescent DNA Base Analogue" Nucleic Acids Res. 36 157-167, 2008.
2. Börjesson, K., Preus, S., El-Sagheer, A. H., Brown, T., Albinsson, B., Wilhelmsson, L. M."Nucleic Acid Base Analog Fret-Pair Facilitating Detailed Structural Measurements in Nucleic Acid Containing Systems" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131 4288-4293, 2009.
3. Börjesson, K., Sandin, P., Wilhelmsson, L. M."Nucleic Acid Structure and Sequence Probing Using Fluorescent Base Analogue tCO" Biophys. Chem. 139 24-28, 2009.
4. Börjesson, K., Tumpane, J., Ljungdahl, T., Wilhelmsson, L. M., Nordén, B., Brown, T., Mårtensson, J., Albinsson, B."Membrane-Anchored DNA Assembly for Energy and Electron Transfer" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131 2831-2839, 2009.
5. Dyrager, C., Börjesson, K., Diner, P., Elf, A., Albinsson, B., Wilhelmsson, L. M., Grötli, M."Synthesis and Photophysical Characterisation of Fluorescent 8-(1h-1,2,3-Triazol-4-Yl)Adenosine Derivatives" Eur. J. Org. Chem. 1515-1521, 2009.
6. Dyrager, C., Friberg, A., Dahlen, K., Friden-Saxin, M., Börjesson, K., Wilhelmsson, L. M., Smedh, M., Grötli, M., Luthman, K."2,6,8-Trisubstituted 3-Hydroxychromone Derivatives as Fluorophores for Live-Cell Imaging" Chem.-Eur. J. 15 9417-9423, 2009.
7. Sandin, P., Stengel, G., Ljungdahl, T., Börjesson, K., Macao, B., Wilhelmsson, L. M."Highly Efficient Incorporation of the Fluorescent Nucleotide Analogs tC and tCO by Klenow Fragment" Nucleic Acids Res. 37 3924-3933, 2009.
8. Sandin, P., Tumpane, J., Börjesson, K., Wilhelmsson, L. M., Brown, T., Nordén, B., Albinsson, B., Lincoln, P."Thermodynamic Aspects of DNA Nanoconstruct Stability and Design" J. Phys. Chem. C 113 5941-5946, 2009.
9. Börjesson, K., Wiberg, J., El-Sagheer, A. H., Ljungdahl, T., Mårtensson, J., Brown, T., Nordén, B., Albinsson, B."Functionalized Nanostructures: Redox-Active Porphyrin Anchors for Supramolecular DNA Assemblies" ACS Nano 4 5037-5046, 2010.
10. Preus, S., Börjesson, K., Kilså, K., Albinsson, B., Wilhelmsson, L. M."Characterization of Nucleobase Analogue Fret Acceptor tCnitro" J. Phys. Chem. B 114 1050-1056, 2010.
An updated list of my publications can also be found here:
