JCP has been involved in projects involving Analytical Chemistry, synthesis of organic compounds, design of molecules for therapeutic use, structural characterisation of compounds and catalysis.

Synthesis

Development of synthetic methodologies for several types of organic compounds by procedures involving activation by metal ions, namely using complexes of vanadium, copper and nickel.

 Catalysis

Development of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic systems for the synthesis of several types of organic compounds. Asymmetric synthesis involving homogeneous catalysis by transition metal complexes. Synthesis involving catalysts supported in solids, encapsulated in zeolites, or involving adsorbed ionic liquids. 

 Design of molecules for therapeutic use

Design, synthesis and characterisation of ligands, and of the corresponding complexes, to obtain suitable compounds for therapeutic use, namely for the treatment of diabetes and as anti-tumour agents. The metal ions used have mainly been oxovanadium(IV and V), Cu(II) and Zn(II).

For the more promising compounds detailed speciation studies are made in aqueous solution. JCP is also involved in the study of the interaction of the compounds with plasma proteins (e.g. albumin and transferrin) and/or with DNA mainly using spectroscopic (EPR, CD, NMR, fluorescence) and electrophoretic techniques

Structural Characterization

JCP has been involved in projects involving the use of spectroscopic techniques, namely circular dichroism, in the study of the stereochemistry of reactions of organic compounds and of metal complexes, and in the structural characterisation of peptides and proteins.

Analytical Chemistry

JCP has been involved in studies of speciation in solution using potentiometric and spectroscopic techniques, and the structural characterisation of the species formed.

JCP has also been involved in application of analytical techniques, namely for characterisation of ancient objects (e.g. tiles, paintings), analysis of marine sediments, and contaminants in environmental samples. In this context JCP has mainly dedicated to the development of chromatographic techniques.

Academic Duties :

João Costa Pessoa was Vice-President of the Scientific Council of Instituto Superior Técnico (2.2 years), Coordinator of the Analytical Chemistry Section (3 years) and member of the Executive Commission of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering  (4 years).

Since he is lecturing at Instituto Superior Técnico JCP has been involved in many different disciplines of graduate and post-graduate studies. Namely JCP was responsible for the disciplines Analytical Chemistry II (old curriculum), Chemical Analysis I (old curriculum), Laboratories of Chemistry III (old curriculum), Chemistry II (new curriculum), Instrumental Methods of Analysis I (new curriculum).

Selected Publications since 1996

Last modification in November 2007

Edition of Books

Vanadium the Versatile Metal, ACS Symposium Series Vol. 974, K. Kustin, J. Costa Pessoa, D.C. Crans, Eds., American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 2007, distributed by the Oxford University Press.

Publication in Journals

Kiss, T.; Jakusch, T.; Hollender, D.; Dörnyei,A.; Enyedy, E.A.; Costa Pessoa, J.; Sakurai, H.; Sanz-Medel, A. Biospeciation of antidiabetic VO(IV) complexes, Coord. Chem. Rev., 2007, in press.

Maurya, M.R.; Kumar, U.; Correia, I.; Adão, P.; and Costa Pessoa, J., Polymer bound oxidovanadium(IV) complex of L-cysteine derived ligand for the oxidative amination of styrene , Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2007, in press

Correia, I.; Costa Pessoa, J.; Sheldon, R.A.; Arends, I.W.C.E.  Vanadium substituted phytase CLEA: asymmetric sulfoxidation and structural characterization - ⁵¹V NMR and CD, J. Inorg. Biochem., 2007, in press

R. Maurya, M.R.; Singh, B.; Adão, P.; Avecilla, F.; Costa Pessoa, J., Zeolite Encapsulated Copper (II) Complexes of Pyridoxal Based Tetradentate Ligands for the Oxidation of Styrene, Cyclohexene and Methylphenylsulfide,  Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2007, in press.

Vitor, R.F.; Correia, I.; Videira, M.; Marques, F.; Paulo, A.; Costa Pessoa, J.; Viola, G.; Martins, G.; Santos, I., Pyrazolyl-Diamine Ligands Bearing Anthracenyl Moieties and Their Rhenium(I) Tricarbonyl Complexes: Synthesis, Characterization and DNA-Binding Properties, ChemBioChem., 2007, in press.

Adão, R.; Seixas, R.; Gomes, P.; Costa Pessoa, P.; Bastos, M., Membrane structure and interactions of a short Lycotoxin I analogue, J. Peptide Science, 2007, in press

Costa Pessoa, J.; Cavaco, I.; Correia, I.; Tomaz, I.; Adão, P.; Vale, I.; Ribeiro, V.; Castro, M.M.C.A.; Geraldes C.C.F.G., Vanadium Schiff base complexes: chemistry, properties and concerns about possible therapeutic applications, in: Vanadium the Versatile Metal, ACS Symposium Series Vol. 974, 2007, K. Kustin, D.C. Crans, J. Costa Pessoa, Eds., American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 2007, chapter 24, pp 340-351. 

Correia, I.; Dornyei , A.; Avecilla, F.; Kiss, T.; Costa Pessoa, J.; X-Ray Crystal Structure and Characterization in Aqueous Solution characterization of {N,N’-ethylenedi(pyridoxylaminato)}zinc(II), Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2006, 656-662.

Carvalho, A.F.; Costa-Rodrigues, J.; Correia, I.; Costa Pessoa, J.; Faria, T.Q.; Santos, H.; Martins, C.L.; Fransen, M.; Sá-Miranda, C.; Azevedo, J.E.; The N-terminal half of the peroxisomal cycling receptor Pex5p is a natively unfolded domain,  J. Mol. Biol., 2006, 356, 864-875. 

Correia, I.; Dornyei, A.; Jakusch, T.; Avecilla, F.; Kiss, T.; Costa Pessoa, J.; Water soluble sal₂en- and reduced sal₂en-type ligands: Study of their Cu^II and Ni^II complexes in the solid state and in solution, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2006, 2819-2830. 

Costa Pessoa, J.; Marcão, S.; Correia, I.; Gonçalves, G.; Dörnyei, A.; Kiss, T.; Jakusch, T.; Tomaz, I.; Castro, M.M.C.A.; Geraldes, C.F.G.C.; Avecilla, F.; Vanadium (IV and V) Complexes of Reduced Schiff Bases Derived from the Reaction of Aromatic o-Hydroxyaldehydes and Diamines Containing Carboxylic Groups, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2006, 3595-3606.  

Dörnyei, A.; Marcão, S.; Costa Pessoa, J.; Jakusch, T.; Kiss, T.; Interactions of insulin-mimetic vanadium complexes with the cell constituents ATP and glutathione, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2006, 3614-3621. 

J.L. Capelo, M.M. Galesio, G.M. Felisberto, M.C. Vaz, J. Costa Pessoa,  Micro-Focused Ultrasonic Solid-Liquid Extraction (µFUSLE) combined with HPLC and Fluorescence Detection as an Improved Methodology for PAHs Determination in Sediments: Optimization and Linking with the Analytical Minimalism Concept, Talanta, 2005, 66, 1272-1280.  

Delgado, T.C.; Tomaz, A.I.; Correia, I.; Costa Pessoa, J.; Jones, J.G.; Geraldes, C.F.G.C.; Castro, M.M.C.A.; Uptake and metabolic effects of potential insulin mimetic oxovanadium compounds in human erythrocytes, J. Inorg. Biochem., 2005, 99, 2328-2339.

T. Jakusch, S. Marcão, L. Rodrigues, I. Correia, J. Costa Pessoa, T. Kiss, Oxovanadium(IV) complexes of salicyl-l-aspartic acid and salicylglycyl-l-aspartic acid, Dalton Trans., 2005, 3072-3078.

F. Abrunhosa, S. Faria, P. Gomes, I. Tomaz, J. Costa Pessoa, D. Andreu, M. Bastos, Interaction and Lipid Induced Conformation of Two Cecropin - Melittin Hybrid Peptides Depend on Peptide and Membrane Composition, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2005, 109, 17311-19.

J. Costa Pessoa, I. Correia, A. Galvão, A. Gameiro, V. Felix, E. Fiuza, Enantioselectivity in Ni(II)-Schiff base complexes derived from amino-acids and S-o-N-(N-benzylprolyl)aminobenzophenone. Molecular structure of several chiral Ni(II) Schiff base complexes, circular dichroism and Molecular Mechanics studies, Dalton Trans., 2005, 2312-2321.

I. Correia, J. Costa Pessoa, M. T. Duarte, M.F.M. Piedade, T. Jackush, T. Kiss, M.M.C.A. Castro, C.F.G.C. Geraldes, F. Avecilla, Vanadium (IV and V) complexes of Schiff bases and reduced Schiff bases derived from the reaction of aromatic o-hydroxyaldehydes and diamines: synthesis, characterization and solution studies, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2005, 732-744.

T.M.V.D. Pinho e Melo, A.L. Cardoso, A.M.d'A. Rocha Gonsalves, J. Costa Pessoa, J.A. Paixão, A. M. Beja, Novel Asymmetric Wittig Reaction: Synthesis of Chiral Allenic Esters, Eur. J. Org. Chem., 2004, 4830-4839.

J. Costa Pessoa, M.J. Calhorda, I. Cavaco, P.J. Costa, I. Correia, D. Costa, L.F. Vilas-Boas, V. Félix, , R.D. Gillard, R.T. Henriques, R. Wiggins, N-Salicylideneamino acidato Complexes of Oxovanadium(IV). The Cysteine and Penicillamine Complexes, Dalton Trans., 2004, 2855-2866

A. Papaioannou, M. Manos, S. Karkabounas, R. Liasko, V. Kalfakakou, I. Correia, A. Enangelou, J. Costa Pessoa, T. Kabanos, Solid state and solution studies of a vanadium(III)-L-cysteine complex and demonstration of its antimetastatic, antioxidant and inhibition of neutral endopeptidase activity, J. Inorg. Biochem., 2004, 98, 959-968.

I. Correia, J. Costa Pessoa, M.T. Duarte, R.T. Henriques, M.F.M. Piedade, L.F. Veiros, T. Jakusch, T. Kiss, Á. Dörnyei, M.M.C.A. Castro, C.F.G.C. Geraldes, F. Avecilla, N,N’-ethylenebis(pyridoxylideneiminato) and N,N’-ethylenebis(pyridoxylaminato): synthesis, characterisation, potentiometric, spectroscopic and DFT study of their vanadium(IV) and vanadium(V) complexes, Chem. Eur. J., 2004, 10, 2301-2317.

T. Jakusch, Á. Dörnyei, I. Correia, L. Rodrigues, G.K. Tóth, T. Kiss, J. Costa Pessoa, S. Marcão, Interaction of V^IVO, V^VO₂ and Cu^II with a peptide analogue SalGly-L-Ala, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2003, 2113-2122.

T. Kiss, T. Jakusch, J. Costa Pessoa, I. Tomaz, Interactions of VO(IV) with oligopeptides, Coord. Chem. Rev., 2003, 237, 123-133.

J. Costa Pessoa, M.J. Calhorda, I. Cavaco, I. Correia, M.T. Duarte, V. Felix, R.T. Henriques, M. F.M. Piedade, I. Tomaz, Molecular modelling studies of N-Salicylideneamino acidato complexes of Oxovanadium(IV). Molecular and crystal structure of a new dinuclear LOV^IV-O-V^VOL mixed valence complex, J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans., 2002, 4407-4415.

A.J. Tasiopoulos, E.J. Tolis, J. M. Tsangaris, A. Evangelou, J. D. Woollins, A.M. Slawin, J. Costa Pessoa, I. Correia, T.A. Kabanos, Model investigations for vanadium-protein interactions: vanadium(III) compounds with dipeptides and their oxovanadium(IV) analogues, J. Biol. Inorg. Chem., 2002, 7, 363-374.

D. Rehder, J. Costa Pessoa, C.F.G.C. Geraldes, M.M.C.A. Castro, T. Kabanos, T. Kiss, B. Meier, G. Micera, L. Pettersson, M. Rangel, A. Salifoglou, I. Turel, D. Wang, In vitro study of the insulin-mimetic behaviour of vanadium(IV, V) co-ordination compounds, J. Biol. Inorg. Chem., 2002, 7, 384-396.

J. Costa Pessoa, I. Tomaz, T. Kiss, E. Kiss, P. Buglyó, The systems V^IVO²⁺-glutathione and related ligands: a potentiometric and spectroscopic study, J. Biol. Inorg. Chem., 2002, 7, 225-240.

T. Kiss, K. Petrohán, P. Buglyó, D. Sanna, G. Micera, J. Costa Pessoa, C. Madeira, Oxovanadium(IV)-promoted peptide-amide deprotonation in aqueous solution, Inorganic Chemistry, 1998, 37, 6389.

T. Boski, J. Costa Pessoa, P. Pedro, J. Thorez, J.M.A. Dias, I.R. Hall, Factors governing abundance of hydrolysable amino acids in the sediments from the N.W. European Continental Margin (47-57º N), Progr. in Oceanogr., 1998, 42, 145.

J. Costa Pessoa, M. Ondina Figueiredo, Uma contribuição da Química para o Diagnóstico de problemas de conservação na igreja do Convento da Cartuxa, Monumentos, 1999, 10, 40.

C. Borges, C. Caetano, J. Costa Pessoa, M.O. Figueiredo, A. Lourenço, M. Malhoa Gomes, T.P. Silva, J.P. Veiga, Monitoring the Removal of Soluble Salts from Ancient Tiles by Ion Chromatography, J. Chromatogr. A, 1997, 770, 195.

J. Costa Pessoa, S.M. Luz and R.D. Gillard, Oxovanadium(IV) Complexes of Peptides with Non-coordinating Side Chains and Related Ligands; A Spectroscopic Study, J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans., 1997, 569.

J.L. Antunes, J. Costa Pessoa, M.O. Figueiredo e M.Amaral Fortes, Removal and Analysis of Soluble I. Cavaco, J. Costa Pessoa, M.T.L. Duarte, P.M. Matias e R.D. Gillard, Molecular Structure of VO(sal-D,L-Asn)(py)(H2O) and Reaction to Produce Coumarine-3-Carboxamide, J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun., 1996, 1365.

J.L. Antunes, J. Costa Pessoa, M.O. Figueiredo, M. Amaral Fortes, "Removal and Analysis of Soluble Salts from Ancient Tiles", Studies in Conservation, 1996, 41, 153-160.