The University of Malta was represented at the Biennial Meeting of the Macromolecular Division of the GDCh MAKRO 2024 Polymers for a Sustainable Future in Dresden, Germany at the Technical University of Dresden from Monday 16 till Wednesday 18 September 2024.

In attendance were Prof. David Magri and research support officer, Ms Nicola’ Agius, of the Department of Chemistry.

Prof. David Magri contributed an oral presentation entitled Polymeric Fluorescent Logic Gates on the development of logic-based fluorescent polymers based on the cinchona alkaloids. Nicola’ Agius contributed a poster presentation entitled Fluorescent Cinchona Alkaloid-based Copolymers. The cinchona alkaloids, derived from the cinchona tree bark, are of historic significance as the only source of the antimalarial drug, quinine, before its first synthesis in 1944, which is today taken for granted as the flavouring agent in tonic water.

The current research in the Magri Group focuses on the development of novel polymers using fluorescent natural products as smart materials with intelligent Boolean logic operations. Chemical inputs are used to turn-on or turn-off the fluorescence output.

In a recent publication, RSC Advances, 2023, 13, 13505, the group has demonstrated that the cinchona alkaloids are fluorescent natural products with intrinsic logic properties. Polymers derived from the cinchona alkaloids could open new directions in environmental protection and medicine.

This project is supported by the FUSION R&I: Research Excellence Programme grant agreement number REP-2023-023 administered by Xjenza Malta.