Manuel Souto Salom

Manuel Souto Salom (Valencia, 1988) is a Principal Researcher at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Aveiro and CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials. He holds a double degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the University of Valencia (Spain) and from the École de Chimie, Polymères et Matériaux (ECPM) de Strasbourg (France), respectively, doing a research internship at PLAPIQUI (Argentina). He also earned a Master's degree in Molecular and Supramolecular Chemistry from the University of Strasbourg conducting his Master thesis at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, Lisbon). In 2016, he obtained his PhD in Materials Science (triple award-winning thesis) at Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) under the supervision of Prof. J. Veciana developing new molecular materials based on organic radicals for different applications in electronics (molecular switches, conductors and rectifiers) conducting two research stays at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and at the University of Antwerp. In 2017, he started to work as postdoctoral researcher (Juan de la Cierva fellowship) at the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol-University of Valencia) designing new TTF-based Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs). Since 2019 he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Aveiro and in 2022 he was promoted to Principal Researcher (tenure, equiv. to Associate Prof. or Permanent Researcher). In 2021, he was awarded an ERC-StG with the project ELECTROCOFS. His main current research interest is the design and synthesis of new functional electroactive porous frameworks (MOFs & COFs) based on redox-active organic building blocks for applications in electronics and energy storage. Link to group website. 

- “Perylene-based Coordination Polymers: Synthesis, Fluorescent J-aggregates and Electrochemical Properties”. G. Valente, M. Esteve-Rochina, S. P. C. Alves, J. M. G. Martinho, E. Ortí, J. Calbo, F. A. Paz, J. Rocha, M. Souto. Inorg. Chem. 2023, 62, 7834-7842. 

- “Direct C-H Arylation of Dithiophene-Tetrathiafulvalene: Tuneable Electronic Properties and 2D Self-Assembled Molecular Networks at the Solid/Liquid Interface”. C. Ribeiro, G. Valente, M. Espinosa, R. A. Silva, D. Belo, S. Gil-Guerrero, N. Arisnabarreta, K. Mali, S. De Feyter, M. Melle-Franco, M. Souto. Chem. Eur. J. 2023, 29, e2023005. 

- “Through-space hopping transport in an iodine-doped perylene-based Metal-Organic Framework”. G. Valente, M. Esteve-Rochina, A. Paracana, A. Rodríguez-Diéguez, E. Ortí, J. Calbo, M. Ilkaeva, L. Mafra, M. A. Rodríguez, J. Rocha, H. Alves, M. Souto.  Mol. Syst. Des. Eng. 2022, 7, 1065-1072. Part of the special collection: “Molecular engineering of MOFs: beyond reticular chemistry”.  Link to article.

-  Electrically Conductive Covalent Organic Frameworks: Bridging the Fields of Organic Metals and 2D Materials. M. Souto, D. F. Perepichka, J. Mater. Chem. C 2021, 9, 10668-10676. Invited contribution. Part of the thematic issue "Materials for molecular electronics and magnetism" in honour of Prof. J. Veciana and Prof. C. Rovira. Link to article.

-  Hexakis-Adducts of [60]Fullerene as Molecular Scaffolds of Polynuclear Spin-Crossover Molecules. M. Palacios-Corella, J. Ramos-Soriano, M. Souto, D. Ananias, J. Calbo, E. Ortí, B. M. Illescas, M. Clemente-León, N. Martín, E. Coronado. Chem. Sci. 2021, 12, 757-766. Link to article.

- Electroactive Organic Building Blocks for the Chemical Design of Functional Porous Frameworks (MOFs & COFs) in Electronics. M. Souto, K. Strutynski, M. Melle-Franco, J. Rocha. Chem. Eur. J. 2020, 26, 10912–10935. Selected as Review Showcase and Frontspiece in 8th EuChemS special issue. Link to article.

- Electronic, Structural and Functional Versatility in Tetrathiafulvalene-Lanthanide Metal-Organic Frameworks. J. Castells-Gil, S. Mañas-Valero, I. J. Vitorica-Yrezabal, D. Ananias, J. Rocha, R. Santiago, S. T. Bromley, J. J. Baldoví, E. Coronado, M. Souto, G. Mínguez Espallargas. Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 12636–12643. Hot Paper. Link to article.

- Design of cost-efficient and photocatalytically active Zn-based MOFs decorated with Cu₂O nanoparticles for CO₂ methanation. M. Cabrero-Antonino, S. Remiro-Buenamañana, M. Souto, A. A. García-Valdivia, D. Choquesillo-Lazarte, S. Navalón, A. Rodríguez-Diéguez, G. Mínguez Espallargas, H. García. Chem. Commun. 2019, 55, 10932-10935. Link to article. 

- Charge transfer interactions between fullerenes and a mesoporous tetrathiafulvalene-based metal-organic framework. M. Souto, J. Calbo, S. Mañas-Valero, A. Walsh, G. Mínguez Espallargas. Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1883-1893. Part of the thematic issue "New directions for nanoporous materials". Link to article.

- Influence of interpenetration on the flexibility of MUV-2. M. Vicent-Morales, I. J. Vitórica-Yrezábal, M. Souto, G. Mínguez Espallargas. CrystEngComm 2019, 21, 3031-3035. Link to article.

- Breathing-Dependent Redox Activity in a Tetrathiafulvale-Based Metal-Organic Framework. M. Souto, J. Romero, J. Calbo, I. J. Vitorica-Yrezabal, J. L. Zafra, J. Casado, E. Ortí, A. Walsh, G. Mínguez Espallargas. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 10562-10569. Link to article.

- A Highly Stable and Hierarchical Tetrathiafulvalene-based Metal-Organic Framework with Improved Performance as Solid Catalyst. M. Souto, A. Santiago-Portillo, M. Palomino, I. Vitorica-Yrezabal, B. J. C. Vieira, J. C. Waerenborgh, S. Valencia, S. Navalón, F. Rey, H. García, G. Mínguez Espallargas. Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 2413-2418. Front cover. Link to article and press release.

- Role of the open-shell character in the pressure-induced conductivity in an organic radical D-A dyad. M. Souto, M. C. Gullo, H. Cui, N. Casati, F. Montisci, H. O. Jeschke, R. Valentí, I. Ratera, C. Rovira, J. Veciana. Chem. Eur. J. 2018, 24, 5500-5505. Link to article. 

- Influence of the Donor Unit on the Rectification Ratio in Tunnel Junctions Based on D-A SAMs using PTM Units as Acceptors. M. Souto, V. Díez-Cabanes, L. Yuan, A. Kyvik, I. Ratera, C. A. Nijhuis, J. Cornil, J. Veciana. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2018, 20, 25638-25647. Selected as 2018 PCCP Hot Articles. Link to article. 

- Conflicting evidence for ferroelectricity. G. D’Avino, M. Souto, M. Masino, J. K. H. Fischer, I. Ratera, X. Fontrodona, G. Giovannetti, M. J. Verstraete, A. Painelli, P. Lunkenheimer, J. Veciana, A. Girlando. Nature 2017, 547, E9-E10. Link to article and press release.

- Tuning the Rectification Ratio by Changing the Electronic Nature (Open-Shell and Closed-Shell) in Donor-Acceptor SAMs. M. Souto, L. Yuan, D. Morales, L. Jiang, I. Ratera, C. Nijhuis, J. Veciana. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 4262-4265. Link to article.

- Tetrathiafulvalene–Polychlorotriphenylmethyl Dyads: Influence of Bridge and Open-Shell Characteristics on Linear and Nonlinear Optical Properties. M. Souto, J. Calbo, I. Ratera, E. Ortí, J. Veciana. Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23, 11067-11075. Link to article.

- TTF-PTM dyads: from switched molecular self-assembly to radical conductors in solid state. M. Souto, C. Rovira, I. Ratera, J. Veciana. CrystEngComm 2017, 19, 197-206. Front cover. Link to article.

- Pressure-Induced Conductivity Conductivity in a Neutral Non-Planar Spin-Localized Radical. M. Souto, H. Cui, M. Peña-Álvarez, V. G. Baonza, H. O. Jeschke, M. Tomic, R. Valentí, D. Blasi, I. Ratera, C. Rovira, J. Veciana. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 11517-11525. Link to article and press release.

- Three Redox States of a Diradical A-D-A Triad: Gating the Magnetic Coupling and the Electron Delocalization. M. Souto, V. Lloveras, S. Vela, M. Fumanal, I. Ratera, J. Veciana. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2016, 7,2234-2239. Link to article.

- Self-assembled architectures with segregated donor and acceptor units of a dyad based on a monopyrrolo-annulated TTF-PTM radical. M. Souto, M. Solano, I. Ratera, M. Jensen, D. Bendixen, F. Delchiaro, A. Girlando, A. Painelli, J. O. Jeppesen, C. Rovira and J. Veciana.  Chem. Eur. J. 2015, 21, 8816-8825. Link to article.

- Intramolecular electron transfer and charge delocalization in bistable donor–acceptor systems based on perchlorotriphenylmethyl radicals linked to ferrocene and tetrathiafulvalene units. M. Souto, D. Morales, J. Guasch, I. Ratera, C. Rovira, A. Painelli, and J. Veciana. J. Phys. Org. Chem. 2014,27, 465-469. Front cover. Link to article.

- Thermomagnetic Molecular System Based on a TTF-PTM Radical. M. Souto, J. Guasch, V. Lloveras, P. Mayorga, J. T. López Navarrete, J. Casado, I. Ratera, C. Rovira, A. Painelli, J. Veciana. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2013, 4, 2721-2726. Link to article.

- Intra- and Intermolecular Charge Transfer in Aggregates of Tetrathiafulvalene-Triphenylmethyl Radical Derivatives in Solution. J. Guasch, L. Grisanti, M. Souto, V. Lloveras, J. Vidal-Gancedo, I. Ratera, A. Painelli, C. Rovira, J. Veciana. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 6958-6967. Link to article.

- Induced Self-assembly of a Tetrathiafulvalene-based Open-Shell Dyad through an Intramolecular Electron Transfer. J. Guasch, L. Grisanti, V. Lloveras, J. Vidal-Gancedo, M. Souto, D. Morales, M. Vilaseca, C. Sissa, A. Painelli, I. Ratera, C. Rovira and J. Veciana. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 1-6 . Link to article.

• ERC Starting Grant (ERC-StG-2021). European Research Council. 
• European Award on Molecular Magnetism Doctoral Thesis (ADocMolMag 2020). European Institute of Molecular Magnetism (EIMM).
• PhD Extraordinary Award. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) (2018).  
• First runner-up NanoMatMol PhD Award. Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) and Spanish Royal Society of Physics (RSEF) (2017).
• Juan de la Cierva-Formación and APOSTD postdoctoral Fellowships. Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
• FPU and JAE PhD Fellowships. Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and Spanish Research Council (CSIC).
• Fellowships granted for R&D internship programs. (Boussole Alsace and Erasmus Internship Program).
• Scholarship to obtain a double degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (only two granted per year). University of Valencia and ECPM of Strasbourg.

10 invited talks, 8 oral contributions and 7 poster presentations to national and international conferences such as EsMolNa (2012, Cuenca), ECMM (2013, Karlsruhe), ISCOM (2015, Bad Gögging), ICMM (2016, Sendai, Invited as Rising Star), EuCheMS (2016, Sevilla), EuroMOF (2017, Delft), docMOF (2018, Raitenhaslach), ENMM (2018, Torremolinos, Invited by RSEQ), ACIN (2018, Namur), HYMA (2019, Sitges), ISCOM (2019, Tomar), EsMolNa (2021, Benidorm, Invited), ENSPQ (2021, Braga, Invited), 13IBCC (2022, Aveiro, Invited), MATSUS (2023, Valencia, Invited), Huawei Summit (2023, Munich, Invited).

• Supervision of students: Current supervision of 1 postdoc, 4 PhD students, and 1 Master student. Supervision of 2 young researchers (BI), 4 Master theses in Chemistry (one marked with honours), 6 final year projects in Chemistry and 3 Erasmus students.
• Teaching activity (total > 600 h): 
• Professor of Physical Chemistry. 1^st year of "Eng. Química" (Chemical Engineering), Universidade de Aveiro (UA), 5h/week. 2022 (70 hours), 
• Professor of General Chemistry Laboratory. 1^st year of "Química" & "Ciências do Mar", Universidade de Aveiro (UA), 4h/week. 2022 (56 hours), 
• Professor of Physical Chemistry Laboratory. 2^nd year of Química (Chemistry), 3^rd year of “Licenciatura em Bioquímica” (Biochemistry) and "Engenharia Química" (Chemical Engineering), Universidade de Aveiro (UA), 3h/week. 2021 (42 hours).
• Professor of General Chemistry Laboratory. 1^st year of "Eng. Física" and "Eng. do Ambiente", Universidade de Aveiro (UA). 6h/week. 2021 (112 hours). Students evaluation: 8/10. 
• Professor of Physical Chemistry Laboratory. 2^nd year of Química (Chemistry), 3^rd year of “Licenciatura em Bioquímica” (Biochemistry) and "Engenharia Química" (Chemical Engineering), Universidade de Aveiro (UA), 6h/week. 2020 (84 hours). Main responsible. Students evaluation: 8.2/10.
• Professor of Biophysical Chemistry. 2^nd year of “Licenciatura em Bioquímica" and "Biotecnologia”, Universidade de Aveiro (UA), 6h/week. 2020 (84 hours). Main responsible. Students evaluation: 7.7/10.
• Professor of Physical Chemistry Laboratory. 2^nd year of Química (Chemistry), 3^rd year of “Licenciatura em Bioquímica” (Biochemistry) and "Engenharia Química" (Chemical Engineering), Universidade de Aveiro (UA), 6h/week. 2019 (84 hours). Main responsible. Students evaluation: 7.7/10.
• Professor of General Chemistry Laboratory. 1^st year of “Grado en Biotecnología” (Biotechnology), Universidad de Valencia (UV), 2018 (30 hours).
• Professor of General Chemistry Laboratory. 1^st year of “Grado en Farmacia” (Pharmacy), Universidad de Valencia (UV), 2018 (15 hours).
• Professor of Experimentation in Chemistry. 2nd year of “Grado de Química” (Chemistry), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 2016 (32 hours). 
• Training program: "Docência +" (Ed. 2020). Universidade do Minho - Universidade de Aveiro.

• Member of the coordinating team of Ciencia en el Parlamento. First meeting between scientists and politicians at the Spanish Parliament (2018) (similar to other events such as Science Meets Parliament at the Australian and European Parliaments) to promote legislative science advice mechanism in Spain. Highlighted in Nature and ChemistryWorld.
• Regular contributor to The Huffington Post, Principia, El Periódico de Catalunya, The Conversation, Ciencia para llevar and Naukas blogs. 
• Creation of Periodic Table of Marvel to be used as mnemonic for young students to help them memorize the elements. Hightlighted in La SER and Business Insider. 
• Author of the article "Using Pop-Culture to Engage Students in the Classroom" (J. Chem. Educ. 2021, 98, 896-906). Highlighted in C&EN.   
• Organisation and participation in open-door scientific events for children and general public (Expociencia, 10alamenos9 Nanoscience Festival, European Researcher's Night).
• Participation in the congress Comunicación y Divulgación Centífica (Madrid, 2018).
• Course "El científico ante los medios de comunicación" (Fundación Esteve, 2015).
• Selected to participate in a roundtable with Martin Schulz (Barcelona 2013).

Evaluator of Research Proposals for the German Research Foundation (DFG) and for the National Science Centre (NCN), Poland. Reviewer in multidisciplinary high-impact journals such as Acc. Chem. Res., Coord. Chem. Rev., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew.Chem.Int.Ed., Chem. Sci., Green Chem., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, Chem. Commun., CrystEngComm. Certificate of completion of the course ACS Reviewer Lab.

Member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Spanish Royal Society of Chemsitry (RSEQ), Portuguese Chemical Society (SPQ) and Portuguese Materials Society (SPM).