Welcome to the website of the Laboratory of Natural Humic Systems of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Fine Organic Synthesis, Faculty of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University. The laboratory was established as a structural subdivision of the Department of Medical Chemistry and Fine Organic Synthesis of the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University in accordance with the order of the Rector of Moscow State University dated August 1, 2017. Therefore, today our laboratory is one of the “youngest” at the Faculty of Chemistry :)

The head of the laboratory is the chief researcher, Doctor of Chemistry, Professor Irina Vasilievna Perminova. Our Team consists of researchers, graduate students and students of the Faculty of Chemistry. The tasks of the laboratory include the study of the structure and properties of supramolecular ensembles of natural humic systems in order to create nature-like structures, materials and technologies for medicine, ecology and agriculture using methods rational design, synthesis and machine learning. We are glad to see you on our site!

Publication in «Комерсантъ»

“We had to take our hat off to our substance”

Humic substances are all kinds of chemistry at once

Probably, each of us has wondered more than once how living matter once appeared from inanimate matter. Where is this line? What is the fundamental difference? What are the conditions for this transition? Is it possible to create them artificially? It turns out that the possibility of such a transition is carried out by humic systems that support life in all its diversity. What is it, why it is important to study them and what new opportunities it gives us, says Irina Perminova, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Natural Humic Systems of the Department of Medical Chemistry and Fine Organic Synthesis of the Chemical Faculty of Moscow State University.

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Yedoma Permafrost Releases Organic Matter with Lesser Affinity for Cu2+ and Ni2+ as Compared to Peat from the Non-Permafrost Area:\ Risk of Rising Toxicity of Potentially Toxic Elements in the Arctic Ocean.
Sobolev Nikita A., Larionov Konstantin S., Mryasova Darya S., Khreptugova Anna N., Volikov Alexander B., Konstantinov Andrey I., Volkov Dmitry S., Perminova Irina V.. TOXICS, 2023, , doi: 10.3390/toxics11060483

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Article Abstract

Pollution of the Arctic Ocean by potentially toxic elements (PTEs) is a current environmental problem. Humic acids (HAs) play an important role in the regulation of PTE mobility in soil and water. The permafrost thaw releases ancient organic matter (OM) with a specific molecular composition into the Arctic watersheds. This could affect the mobility of PTEs in the region. In our study, we isolated HAs from two types of permafrost deposits:\ the Yedoma ice complex, which contains pristine buried OM, and the alas formed in the course of multiple thaw–refreezing cycles with the most altered OM. We also used peat from the non-permafrost region as the recent environmental endmember for the evolution of Arctic OM. The HAs were characterized using 13C NMR and elemental analysis. Adsorption experiments were conducted to assess the affinity of HAs for binding Cu2+ and Ni2+. It was found that Yedoma HAs were enriched with aliphatic and N-containing structures as compared to the much more aromatic and oxidized alas and peat HAs. The adsorption experiments have revealed that the peat and alas HAs have a higher affinity for binding both ions as compared to the Yedoma HAs. The obtained data suggest that a substantial release of the OM from the Yedoma deposits due to a rapid thaw of the permafrost might increase the mobility of PTEs and their toxicity in the Arctic Ocean because of much lesser “neutralization potential”.