Dr. Airody Vasudeva Adhikari

Research Interest/ Area

Design & synthesis of novel small organic molecules/polymers, including nanomaterials for allied applications such as Biology, Organic Electronics, Sensors etc.

• Areas: Medicinal Chemistry, Natural Products, Photochemistry, Molecular Modeling, Supramolecular Chemistry and Bio-fuels.

Research

Our research group mainly focuses on the cutting-edge research to address the problems, ranging from the very fundamental to applications, of molecular and supra-molecular materials. The group is multi-disciplinary in nature and situated at the interface of Organic, Medicinal and Material Chemistry. We design smart organic molecules judiciously enforcing the desired chemical functionality and geometric topology in the new structures, keeping in view of their potential applications in allied fields.  Computer aided design strategies are also being used for this purpose. We employ several advanced synthetic tools and develop novel synthetic strategies to obtain our newly designed organic molecules for targeted applications. We also focus our attention to investigate and develop their purification methods in order to achieve ultra high purity. Further we use several state of the art instrumentation methods like spectroscopic, X-ray crystallographic and other analytical techniques as well as computational analysis to characterize the materials both in molecular and bulk forms and to study the functional properties of the compounds that are synthesized for targeted applications. Also, it focuses on exploring the applications of newly synthesized molecules in various fields such as Medicinal Chemistry, Organic Electronics, Material Chemistry etc.  Further, our interdisciplinary approach includes design and synthesis of multifunctional polymers with novel properties and studying their characteristics working at the interface of chemistry and biology.  We take the advantage of their molecular structures to fine tune desired properties through molecular design and robust synthetic strategies. Furthermore, our research also involves developing functional nanomaterials with unique physical, chemical, and optical properties for a wide variety of biological applications. We are also investigating the pharmacological effects of natural product extracts isolated from traditional medicinal plants/herbs.

Publications                                                                                                                               Full list:

1. Naveenchandra Pilicode, Praveen Naik, K. M. Nimith, Madhukara Acharya, M. N. Satyanarayan, Airody Vasudeva Adhikari^* (2020) “New Cyanopyridine Based Conjugated Polymers Carrying Auxiliary Electron Donors: From Molecular Design to Blue Emissive PLEDs”, 2019, Dyes and Pigments, 174, March 2020, 108046. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2019.108046.
2. Rajalakshmi Kesavan, Attia Fathy M.Eldesoky, Su Rui, El-Shafei Ahmed, Airody Vasudeva Adhikari* (2019),“Asymmetric dual anchoring sensitizers/co-sensitizers for DSSC application: An insight into various fundamental processes inside the cell”, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C (ACS), DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b06525, Sept. 2019.
3. R. Vinayakumara, Hidayath Ulla, Sandeep Kumar, Anup Pandith, M. N. Satyanarayan, D. S. Shankar Rao, S. Krishna Prasad, Airody Vasudeva Adhikari^* (2018), “Hydrogen Bond-Driven Columnar Self-Assembly of Electroluminescent D-A-D Configured Cyanopyridones”, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, DOI: 10.1039/C8TC01737A.
4. Mahesh M. Poojary, Kanivebagilu A. Vishnumurthy, Airody Vasudeva Adhikari* (2015) Extraction, characterization and biological studies of phytochemicals from Mammea suriga, Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis, 5, (2015), 182-189. (org/10.1016/j.pha.2015.01.002).
5. Shrikanth Ulloora, Rajesh Ranganathan and Airody Vasudeva Adhikari^*, (2013). “Synthesis, anticonvulsant and anti-inflammatory studies of new 1,4-dihydropyridin-4-yl-phenoxyacetohydrazones.” European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 70, (2013), 341-349.

Book/ Book Chapter

1. Book Chapter 6: Electrical and Electronic Engineering: “Nonlinear Optics”, edited: Natalia Kamania, ISBN 978-953-51-0131-4, published in Feb. 29, 2012.

• Working as PI in ongoing two year project titled “Design and Development of New Lubricity Improvers for Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel” with MRPL.
• A project related to Bio-organic Chemistry, applied to Bruker India Ltd., Mumbai, for a research grant.

Currently, five students are working at NITK, for their Ph.D. One of them works on design and synthesis of new organic fluorescent dyes that function in NIR region, which are useful for bio-imaging with minimal auto-fluorescence from bio-samples, reduced scattering and high tissue penetration. Two are working on synthesis of new heterocyclic dyes for solar cells as sensitizers, keeping in view of developing efficient DSSCs. Another works on design and development of new cost-effective lubricity improvers for ultra low-sulphur diesel so as to meet Euro-6/BSVI specifications. One more is synthesizing new benzothiazoles of medicinal interest and investigating their in vitro and in vivo pharmacological properties.