ORIO Maylis

ORIO Maylis

Location
Service 341
Telephone
04 13 94 56 13
ORCID: 0000-0002-9317-8005
HAL HAL : maylis-orio
Status
Research Director
Team
BiosCiences

Career path

Since 2024    CNRS researcher director, Aix-Marseille Univ.
2014-2024     CNRS researcher, Aix-Marseille Univ.
2014               Habilitation, Univ. Lille 1
2010-2014      CNRS researcher, Univ. Lille 1 

Honour

  • Distinguished member SCF, 2025 promotion.

Teachings

  • Lectures and practicals in computational chemistry and EPR simulation (since 2008)

Research themes

My research focuses on the experimental and theoretical characterization of molecular catalysts for the activation of small molecules, with a particular interest in hydrogen production. My specificity is to use quantum chemical tools to: (i) better understand reaction mechanisms (ii) predict the catalytic performance of systems and (iii) develop new synthetic targets.

References: Chem. Eur. J., 2022 -  Chem. Comm., 2021.

1) Bio-inspired hydrogen production: molecular electrocatalysis, photocatalysis and supported catalysis

By combining non-innocent ligands and Earth-abundant transition metal ions, we have developed familes of bio-inspired complexes active in electrocatalytic proton reduction. We have shown that these complexes exhibit significant activity for the reduction of protons to hydrogen. However, the key elements for understanding and improving their reactivity remain unknown. A first research line  aims to predict the catalytic performance of our bio-inspired complexes to design more efficient molecular catalysts. A second axis aims to combine catalytic centers with a solid matrix, in order to design stable and sustainable electrodes. A final focus is the development of noble metal-free systems for photocatalytic hydrogen production. 

Funding : ANR, ANRT, DGA, Région Sud, IEA, AMUTech 

Participants: R. Hardré, B. Faure, M.Réglier 

Collaborations: Company Rener, Athanassios Coutsolelos (Univ. Crete), Kalliopi Ladomenou (Univ. International Hellenic)

Publications: Chem. Eur. J., 2018 - Chem. Sus. Chem., 2019 - Dalton Trans., 2020 - RSC Adv., 2021 - Chem. Phys. Chem., 2022 - ChemCatChem, 2024 - Dalton Trans. 2025.

2) Oxygen activation: Structure-function studies of copper monooxygenases

Lytic Polysaccharide Monooxygenases (LPMOs) are copper metalloenzymes that catalyze the oxidative cleavage of recalcitrant polysaccharides. LPMOs hydroxylate a C-H bond on cellulose using a copper active site. Many questions remain as to the mode of action of the enzyme and the role of the particular coordination motif "histidine-brace". We develop structure-function relationships for these copper monooxygenases using a dual approach combining experimental data and theoretical calculations. We are developing a multidisciplinary approach combining biology, spectroscopy and quantum chemistry to interpret the structure and properties of these enzymes and better understand the reactivity of copper centers.

Fundings: ANR, PHC Procope, PHC Procope +

Participants: A. Jalila Simaan, A. Ciaccafava, M. Réglier

Collaborations: Sylvain Bertaina (IM2NP, Aix Marseille Univ.), Giuseppe Sicoli (LASIRE, Lille Univ.), Dimitrios Pantazis (MPI Mülheim, Germany)

Publications: Chem. Phys. Chem., 2020 -  Magnetochemistry, 2022 - Inorg. Chem., 2022 - Inorg. Chem., 2024 - Actu. Chim., 2024.

Collaborations and groups

Collaborations

  • France, Grenoble : Stéphane Torelli (LCBM)
  • France, Paris : Ally Aukauloo (ICMMO), Sébastien Blanchard (IPCM)
  • France, Lille : Giuseppe Sicoli (LASIRE)
  • France, Marseille : Sylvain Bertaina (IM2NP)
  • Germany : Dimitrios Pantazis (MPI Kofo Mülheim)
  • Grece : Athanassios Coutsolelos (Univ. Crete), Kalliopi Ladomenou (Univ. International Hellenic)
  • Mexico : Ivan Castillo (UNAM)

 

Supervisions

  1. Iris Wehrung, PhD student MRT 2023-2026, topic copper enzymes and models, co-supervisor: J. Simaan
  2. Léa Delmotte, project engineer RENER 2024-, topic hydrogen
  3. Miroslava Arronte Morales, PhD Mexico 2025-2026, topic copper enzymes and models, supervisors: J. Simaan / I. Castillo
  4. Nicolas Husson, research engineer RENER 2025-,  topic hydrogen
  5. Matteo Bassi, Master 2 intern, 2025-2026,  topic hydrogen
  6. Jana Mehrez, postdoc RENER 2026-, topic hydrogen

Administrative responsabilities

  • Deputy director of the Infrastructure Themosia (Themosia, since 2024)
  • Operational mamanger of an EPR plateform at the Infranalytics IR (Infranalytics, since 2023)
  • Tresurer of the French EPR society (ARPE, since 2021)

Scientific outreach efforts

Files

Author publications