SOBOLA ABDULLAHI OWOLABI

Chemistry

Room 1, Besides Science Room 3, Abisogun Leigh Science Building, Ojo Campus

12.00 - 1.00 PM

#	Certificate	School	Year
1	PhD	Rhodes University, Grahamstown	2012
2	MSc	University of Ibadan, Ibadan	2005

My research focuses on the exploration of the biological applications of the d- and f- blocks elements. Specifically, Schiff bases and thiosemicarbazones compounds are of utmost interest. These versatile organic ligands possess the azomethine functional group and have varying biological potency such as anti-microbial, anti-fungal, antiinflammatory and anti-tumour activity depending on the nature of the parent aldehyde or amino moiety. The condensation of an active carbonyl, ketone or aldehyde, with a primary amine or thiosemicarbazide gives the desired Schiff base and the thiosemicarbazone respectively. In addition, my attention also cover other biologically important organic ligands such as those with amino - 1, 2, 4 - triazole nucleus, largely due to their proven pharmacological activity.
The synthesis and characterization of the ligands and the metal complexes involve the use of various analytical and spectroscopic techniques such as micro-analysis, conductivity measurement, magnetic susceptibility measurement, UV/Visible spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and X-ray single crystal diffraction.

Schiff bases are versatile ligands with varying applications in several fields of chemistry and biochemistry. Notably,
they are used as common ligands for transition metals and could act as excellent analytical agents for various biological samples. To this end, I collaborate with colleagues in analytical chemistry for the fabrication of Schiff bases into nanofibres via electrospinning method towards exploring thier capacity as potential analytical agents for toxic metals.