Mechanistic insights from unpaired electrons

Dr. Rössler’s lab makes use of chemical principles to understand fundamentally important
reactions in biology. Reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions underpin innumerable chemical
reactions and much of the chemistry of life. Many redox reactions proceed via radical
intermediates and these are often located in mechanistically key locations. She investigates how
oxidation-state changes govern respiration in the respiratory complex I and photosynthesis in
photosynthetic complex I and how nature has fine-tuned the redox properties of its many intricate
molecular machines. Membranes play a fundamentally important role for many proteins and she
is investigating the role of membranes on protein activity and function through spin labels and
protein-intrinsic paramagnetic centres.