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Luís Cruz is graduated in Chemistry (2004) and obtained his PhD in Chemistry (2010) at Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto under Prof. Victor Freitas supervision. During his PhD, he was assistant professor of organic chemistry laboratory of Chemistry graduation. He is currently a Post-Doctoral researcher at Food Chemistry group of REQUIMTE/LAQV Research Center in a frame of FCT fellowship.He has been a team member in several projects funded by national institutions (FCT and Ministry of Economy) and he has been supervising under- and post-graduate students (with MSc and PhD degrees).
Research Interests:
-Chemical synthesis of anthocyanin metabolites for biological studies.
-Design of natural and bio-inspired flavyliuns as photosensitizers for energetical and medical applications (e.g. solar cells, photodynamic therapy).
-Recycling and chemo-enzymatic derivatization of anthocyanins from agro-food wastes towards stable derivatives for applications in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.
-Development of micro/nanocontainers for storage and controlled release of eco-friendly anthocyanin-related compounds for application as multifunctional additives in novel self-healing and self-sensing coatings against corrosion of metallic substrates.
-Physical-chemical, antioxidant and biological features of novel anthocyanin-derived pigments.
Highlighted publications
[1] Cruz, L.; Basílio, N.; Mateus, N.; Pina, F.; de Freitas, V., Characterization of Kinetic and Thermodynamic Parameters of Cyanidin-3-glucoside Methyl and Glucuronyl Metabolite Conjugates. J. Phys. Chem. B 2015, 119, 2010-2018.
[2] Basílio, N.; Cruz, L.; de Freitas, V.; Pina, F., A Multistate Molecular Switch Based on the 6,8-Rearrangement in Bromo-apigeninidin Operated with pH and Host–Guest Inputs. J. Phys. Chem. B 2016, 120, 7053-7061.
[3] Cruz, L.; Fernandes, I.; Guimaraes, M.; de Freitas, V.; Mateus, N., Enzymatic synthesis, structural characterization and antioxidant capacity assessment of a new lipophilic malvidin-3-glucoside-oleic acid conjugate. Food Funct. 2016, 7, 2754-2762.
[4] Cruz, L.; Guimarães, M.; Araújo, P.; Évora, A.; de Freitas, V.; Mateus, N., Malvidin 3-Glucoside–Fatty Acid Conjugates: From Hydrophilic toward Novel Lipophilic Derivatives. J. Agric. Food. Chem. 2017, 65, 6513-6518.
[5] Sousa, J. L. C.; Gomes, V.; Mateus, N.; Pina, F.; de Freitas, V.; Cruz, L., Synthesis and equilibrium multistate of new pyrano-3-deoxyanthocyanin-type pigments in aqueous solutions. Tetrahedron 2017, 73, 6021-6030.