About the Centre
Bioinorganic Chemistry is one of the frontier and thrust areas of Chemistry. The Centre for Bioinorganic Chemistry in School of Chemistry was established in the year of 2008 with Prof. Dr. M. Palaniandavaras the Coordintor.
Objectives
To continue to isolate biomimetic models for catechol dioxygenase enzymes which degrade harmful organic compounds in nature.
To isolate suitable metal complexes and interact them with DNA to diagnose different conformations of DNA and use them as spectral and structural probes for DNA, and also as effective artificial chemical nucleases.
To develop metal-based anticancer drugs and to evaluate the molecular mechanism of cell death.
To isolate small molecule models for soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) enzymes, which catalyze the conversion of methane to methanol, and to investigate the mechanistic pathway of sMMO.
To mimic iron(II) containing Rieske dioxygenase enzyme, which catalyze the dihydroxylation of aromatic compounds, which is the first step in the biodegradation of aromatic pollutants.
To design iron(II) complexes as the biomimetic models for Proline hydroxylase as well as Peroxide Regulator (PerR) and the benefit of these studies will throw light on the use of H2O2 as green oxidant.

Model Complexes Designed for Catechol Dioxygenase and sMMO Enzymes
The Centre was supported through several (18) CSIR, BRNS, DST, DST-nanoand SERB research projects. It won a bioinorganic pre-doctoral Fellowship and an invited DST project under New Initiatives in Bioinorganic Chemistry of DST, and DST Ramanna Fellowship twice (2007-2010, 2010-2013) for Prof. Dr. M. Palaniandavar, the Coordinator and Indo-French Center for Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR), New Delhi sanctioned hima collaborative research project, with Dr. J. M. Latour, CEA-Grenoble, France as the collaborator. The project also enabled exchange visits by the research personnel.
Facilities
The Centre had a range of sophisticated instruments facilities like GC-MS, GC, Flash Chromatography, UV-Vis and Diode Array Spectrophotometer, an Electrochemical System, a Gel Doc System, etc. It conducted many Conferences and a Winter School on Bioinorganic Chemistry. It offered research projects for MSc students, and engagedSummer Research Project Fellows sponsored by Indian Academy of Sciences.The present facilities include the following.
1 | Gas Chromatograph | Hewlett-Packard - 6890 series plus, USA |
2 | Automatic Viscometer | Schott Gerate |
3 | Diode-Array Spectrophotometer | Agilent |
4 | Gel Documentation | Alpha Innotech |
5 | Rotaevaporator | R-II Buchi, Switzerland |
Publications and Scholars Trained
The Centre has produced so far 26 PhD scholars and 1 more is actively working. All the research scholars occupy very distinct positions in Industry and prestigious Academic Institutions (IITK, NITC, MKU, Bharathiar University) in India and abroad.The Coordinator of the Centre Professor Dr. M. Palaniandavar has authored several publications (180) in widely read and high-impact journals like Inorganic Chemistry (ACS, 20), Dalton Transactions (RSC, 40), J. Inorg. Biochemistry (40) etc, which have received several citations (7000 Citations, h index 45; i100index, 20; i10 index 107) and have strong impact on the current research scenarios in India. The pioneering work initiated by him on metal-DNA interaction is now taken up by more than 50 researchers in India and many abroad. He has many distinctions, awards and Fellowships in recognition of his contributions from the Centre. He won Tamilnadu Scientist Award in 1997, and received UGC Research Award in 1999. He was elected as Fellow of the most prestigious Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc, 2004) and Indian National Academy of Sciences (FNA, 2014) and Royal Society of Chemistry, United Kingdom (FRSC, 2009). Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) recognized his outstanding contributions to science and awarded him the Bronze Medal in 1999 and the prestigious Silver Medal in 2013.
Activities
Supported by SERB, New Delhi the Centre is now actively involved in studying the bioinorganic chemistry of the dioxygen activating enzyme the soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) by isolating and studying dinucleariron(III) and dinickel(II) complexes as respectively biomimetic and bioinspired enzyme models. Also, copper(II) complexes of a few drug molecules are also being investigated as anticancer agents. Very recently, several Cu(II) and Ru(II) complexes have been proposed as anticancer agents.A few PhD students from other Institutions like Tezpur Central University, Tezpur, Assam are visiting the centre. He is organizing many Academy sponsored Lecture Workshops on Bioinorganic Chemistry in Colleges, State and Central Universities and in IITs.
Collaborations
Prof. Nasreen S. Islam, Tezpur (Central) University, Tezpur, Assam
Professor R. Murugavel, IITB, Mumbai
Prof. M. Veluchamy, NEHU, Shillong, Meghalaya
Dr. V. Prabha, CUTN, Thiruvarur
Dr. Ganga Periyasamy, Bangalore University, Bengaluru
Prof. M. A. Akbarsha, BDU
Prof. S. K. Ghosh, BARC, Mumbai
Dr. E. Suresh, CSMCRI, Bavanagar, Gujarat
Prof. H. Stoeckli-Evans, Neuchatel, Switzerland
Dr. J. M. Latour, CEA-Grenoble, France
Faculty

Coordinator, Centre for Bioinorganic Chemistry
Professor of Eminence, Department of Chemistry
Bharathidasan University
Tiruchirappalli-620 024
+91 431 2407053, 2407125
9443644758
E-Mail: palaniandavar@bdu.ac.in, palanim51@yahoo.com