Eric Masson

Education

Ph.D. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland

Research

• Supramolecular and Host/Guest Recognition Chemistry
• Macrocyclic Chemistry with a focus on Cucurbiturils
• Biorganic Chemistry
• Group Page

Research in the Masson group is very interdisciplinary, with supramolecular chemistry being the core of our research, from which a wide range of fields radiates. Examples include physical organic, synthetic, bioorganic and medicinal chemistry, as well as material science. We are particularly interested in the recognition properties of the cucurbit[n]uril hosts, a family of macrocycles which display extreme affinity towards a wide set of guests, and can be incorporated into various molecular machines. Applications we can foresee include supramolecular catalysis, controlled drug release, and the design of stimuli-responsive nanomaterials.

Selected Publications

Joseph, R.; Masson, E. “Atropisomerization in Confined Space; Cucurbiturils as Tools to Determine the Torsional Barrier of Substituted Biphenyls”, Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2014, 105 – 110.

Joseph, R.; Masson, E. “Subtle "supramolecular buttressing effects" in Cucurbit[7]uril/guest assemblies”, Org. Biomol. Chem. 2013, 11, 3116 – 3127.

Masson, E. “Torsional barriers of substituted biphenyls calculated using density functional theory: a benchmarking study”, Org. Biomol. Chem. 2013, 11, 2859 – 2871.

Ling, X.; Masson, E. “Cucurbituril Slippage: Cations as Supramolecular Lubricants”, Org. Lett. 2012, 14, 4866 – 4869.

Masson, E.; Ling, X.; Joseph, R.; Kyeremeh-Mensah, L.; Lu, X. “Cucurbituril Chemistry: a tale of supramolecular success”, RSC Adv. 2012, 2, 1213 – 1247.

Masson, E.; Shaker, Y. M.; Masson, J. P.; Kordesch, M. E.; Yuwono, C. “'Supramolecular Circuitry’: Three Chemiluminescent, Cucurbit[7]uril-Controlled On/Off Switches”, Org. Lett. 2011, 13, 3872 – 3875.

Lu, X.; Masson, E. “Formation and Stabilization of Silver Nanoparticles with Cucurbit[n]urils (n = 5−8) and Cucurbituril-Based Pseudorotaxanes in Aqueous Medium”, Langmuir>/i> 2011, 27, 3051 – 3058.

Ling, X.; Samuel, E. L.; Patchell, D. L.; Masson, E. “Cucurbituril Slippage: Translation is a Complex Motion”, Org. Lett. 2010, 12, 2730 – 2733.

Lu, X.; Masson, E.“Silver-Promoted Desilylation Catalyzed by Ortho- and Allosteric Cucurbiturils”, Org. Lett. 2010, 12, 2310 – 2313.

Masson, E.; Lu, X.; Ling, X.; Patchell, D. L. “Kinetic vs Thermodynamic Self-Sorting of Cucurbit[6]uril, Cucurbit[7]uril, and a Spermine Derivative”, Org. Lett. 2009, 11, 3798 – 3801.