Professors
Mateo Alajarin was born in Alhama de Murcia (Spain). He graduated in chemistry at the Universidad de Murcia, where he also received his PhD. After postdoctoral studies with Prof. Alan R. Katritzky at the University of Florida (USA) he returned to the Universidad de Murcia where he is currently Full Professor at its Department of Organic Chemistry. His research interests include ketenimines and related heterocumulenes, supramolecular chemistry, organophosphorus reagents, tandem processes promoted by H shifts, and other pericyclic and pseudopericyclic reactions.
Mateo Alajarin
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José Berná obtained his BSc (1997) and MSc (1998) degrees at Universidad de Murcia (Spain). In 2003, he completed his PhD at the same university working on phosphorus-functionalized bicyclic cage compounds under the supervision of Prof. Mateo Alajarín and Dr. Carmen Lopez-Leonardo. Between 2004 and 2007, he worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the group of Prof. David A. Leigh at University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom). In 2007, he returned to the Department of Organic Chemistry at Universidad de Murcia as a Postdoctoral Researcher. In 2008, he was awarded with a Ramón y Cajal contract inside of the Human Resources Hiring and Incorporation of Research National Program of the Spanish Government. Currently, he is Full Professor and his research interests are focussed on the synthesis of novel interlocked compounds oriented towards the development of new functional molecular machines.
Jose Berna
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Mario García-Rodríguez was born in Elda (Alicante, Spain). He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Alicante in 2020 and completed a Master’s degree in Materials Science at the same institution in 2021. In 2024, he earned his PhD from the University of Alicante under the supervision of Prof. Emilia Morallón and Prof. Diego Cazorla-Amorós, supported by an FPU fellowship, and subsequently carried out a postdoctoral position at the same university. He has undertaken research stays at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, under the supervision of Prof. Joydeep Dutta, and at the University of Bern, Switzerland, under the supervision of Prof. Peter Broekmann. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Murcia. His research interests include the development of nanomaterials through sustainable methods, catalysis and energy, and the application of electrochemistry to the development and characterization of organic molecules.
Mario García-Rodríguez
Carmen Lopez-Leonardo was born in Murcia (Spain). She received her BSc degree at the Universidad de Murcia, and her PhD at the same university under the direction of Prof. Pedro Molina and Prof. Mateo Alajarin. She moved to the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) to work as a Postdoctoral NATO fellow in the group of Prof. Leon Ghosez. She returned to the Universidad de Murcia where she is currently Senior Lecturer in Organic Chemistry. Her research interests include organophosphorus compounds, supramolecular chemistry and mechanical bonds.
Carmen Lopez-Leonardo
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Marta Marin-Luna was born in Cartagena (Murcia). She graduated in Chemistry at the University of Murcia, where she also received her PhD (2014). After a short postdoctoral stay with Dr. Ibon Alkorta and Dr. José Elguero at the Institute of Medical Chemistry (CSIC, Madrid) she joined to the group of Prof. C. Silva and Prof. O. N. Faza at the University of Vigo. In the summer of 2016, she moved to the group of Prof. Hendrik Zipse at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich (Germany) enjoying a postdoctoral contract. In 2019, she returned to the University of Murcia as Associate Professor. Her research interests include organo- and metalcatalysis, non-covalent interactions, supramolecular chemistry, tandem processes promoted by H shifts and other pericyclic and pseudopericyclic reactions.
Marta Marin-Luna
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Alberto Martínez-Cuezva born in Burgos (Spain). He graduated in Chemistry at the Universidad de Burgos (Spain). In 2010, he completed his PhD at the same university working on the development of novel catalytic systems under the supervision of Prof. Roberto Sanz. He moved to the Max-Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung (Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany) to work as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the group of Prof. Benjamin List (2010-2013). During this time he focused in the synthesis of potential asymmetric organocatalysts. In 2013, he joined the Department of Organic Chemistry at Universidad de Murcia as a Postdoctoral Researcher (Marie-Curie and Juan de la Cierva Fellow). In 2018, he was awarded with a Ramón y Cajal contract, and in 2022 promoted to Associate Professor. His research interests are focused on the synthesis of novel interlocked compounds oriented towards the development of new functional molecular machines, including their employment as advance organocatalysts in asymmetric transformations.
Alberto Martinez-Cuezva
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Aurelia Pastor graduated in Chemistry at the Universidad de Murcia, where she also received her PhD in 1997. Here after, she joined the group of Prof. Waldemar Adam at the University of Würzburg (Germany) as a postdoctoral fellow. In 1999, she returned to the Universidad de Murcia as a postdoctoral researcher and joined the group of Prof. Mateo Alajarin. She was awarded with a Ramón y Cajal contract in 2001. Currently, she is Associate Professor at the Department of Organic Chemistry. Her research interests include the study of self-assembly processes, the synthesis of interlocked compounds and the application of NMR techniques to the identification of supramolecular structures.
Aurelia Pastor
Pilar Sanchez-Andrada was born in Badajoz (Spain). She graduated in Chemistry at the Universidad de Murcia, where she also received her PhD under the supervision of Mateo Alajarin and P. Molina, focusing her work in the synthesis and reactivity of cyclic carbodiimides. After postdoctoral studies in the Instituto de Quimica Medica (CSIC), under the supervision of Ibon Alkorta and Jose Elguero, she specialized in computational chemistry and gone back to the Universidad de Murcia, focusing her work in theoretical chemistry from that date. From 2011 to 2017 she joined the University Centre of Defence at the Spanish Air Force Academy. In 2017, she joined the Universidad de Murcia as Associate Professor. Her current research interests lie in theoretical studies on the mechanism of pericyclic and pseudopericyclic reactions.
Pilar Sanchez-Andrada
Angel Vidal was born in Murcia (Spain) in 1964. He received his BSc degree at the Universidad de Murcia, and his PhD at the same university under the direction of Prof. Dr. Pedro Molina and Prof. Dr. Mateo Alajarin. After postdoctoral work with Prof. Dr. Michael E. Jung at the University of California, Los Angeles, he joined the Universidad de Murcia as Associate Professor, and was promoted to Lecturer in 1999. In 2018, he was promoted to Full Professor. His research interests focused on the study of the chemistry of ketenimines and related heterocumulenes.
Angel Vidal
Postdoctoral researchers
Adrian Saura-Sanmartin holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry. He is currently a Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellow ("la Caixa" Foundation). His research interests include organic synthesis, supramolecular chemistry, mechanically interlocked molecules, metal-organic frameworks and smart materials.
Adrian Saura-Sanmartin
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Tomás Nicolás-García was born in Ceutí (Murcia, Spain). He obtained his BSc (2016) and MSc (2017) in Chemistry at the Universidad de Murcia, working on mechanically interlocked molecules under the supervision of Prof. José Berná. He was awarded a national predoctoral FPI fellowship (2018–2022) to join IMDEA Nanociencia, where he completed his PhD in Organic Chemistry, focusing on the design, synthesis, and single-molecule manipulation of artificial molecular machinery under the supervision of Prof. Emilio M. Pérez and Dr. Borja Ibarra. During this time, he completed a research stay at King’s College London in the group of Prof. Sergi Garcia-Manyes and synthesized the winning nanocar for team NanoHispa in the International Nanocar Race II. Later, he joined Prof. Guillaume De Bo group at the University of Manchester as a postdoctoral researcher (2023–2025), where he worked on polymer mechanochemistry, developing platforms for force-controlled cargo release and co-developing predictive simulations of chemical reactivity under tension. He currently works on the mechanochemistry of the mechanical bond.
Tomás Nicolás García
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Julio Puigcerver obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Murcia in 2019, followed by a Master’s degree in Fine and Molecular Chemistry in 2020. In 2025, he completed his PhD at the same institution under the supervision of Prof. Dr. José Berná and Dr. Alberto Martínez-Cuezva, supported by a predoctoral FPU fellowship. His doctoral research focused on the design and synthesis of mechanically interlocked molecules, particularly rotaxanes, exploring their potential in catalysis and asymmetric synthesis. As part of his training, Julio carried out a research stay in the group of Professor Konrad Tiefenbacher at the University of Basel (Switzerland), contributing to the development and synthesis of new macrocycles. He is currently undertaking a postdoctoral training period (FPU-POP).
Julio Puigcerver Alarcón
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PhD Students
Juan Jesús Prado was born in Alange (Badajoz) in 1996. He obtained his degree in Chemistry from the University of Extremadura in 2019 and completed a Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2021. During his undergraduate studies, he participated in the Erasmus+ programme in Coimbra and carried out his final degree project at UFRGS (Brazil) with a Santander Iberoamérica fellowship, leading to a scientific publication. He worked as a research technician at CSIC-IQOG and was also a research chemist at Eurofins Villapharma Research. He is currently a PhD student supported by an FPI fellowship associated with the project "Selective Strategies for the Assembly of Mechanically Interlocked Nanostructures", focusing on the synthesis and functionalization ofmechanically interlocked molecules.
Juan J. Prado Rodríguez
Raquel Peñaranda Navarro was born in Murcia in 2002. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Murcia in 2024 and completed a Master’s degree in Fine and Molecular Chemistry at the same institution in 2025. She is currently pursuing her PhD in the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Murcia under the supervision of Dr. Adrián Saura. Her research focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of mechanically interlocked ligands, with particular interest in photoresponsive systems and their integration into metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). Outside the laboratory, she is a devoted supporter of Real Murcia F. C.
Raquel Peñaranda Navarro
José María Zamora Gallego was born in Murcia in 2002. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Murcia in 2024 and completed a Master’s degree in Fine and Molecular Chemistry at the same institution in 2025. During his undergraduate studies, he was closely linked to the Department of Organic Chemistry as an undergraduate research intership for four consecutive years, gaining experience in organic synthesis, organocatalysis, and compound characterization. He is currently a PhD student at the International Doctoral School of the University of Murcia (EIDUM), supported by a Fundación Séneca predoctoral fellowship, and his research focuses on the design and application of rotaxane-based organocatalysts.
José María Zamora Gallego