M'hamed Chahma

M’hamed Chahma earned his BSc. in Chemistry at Ibn Zohr University (former Cadi Ayyad, Agadir, Morocco). He obtained his Diplome d’Etudes Approfondies (DEA) and his Ph.D. degree from Paris Diderot University (Paris 7, France) in Electrochemistry. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg, Virginia) and worked as a research associate in several Canadian institutions. He joined the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Laurentian University (Sudbury, Canada) in 2006 as associate professor and has been full professor of chemistry since 2013. Dr. Chahma teaches several courses at undergraduate  and graduate levels. Dr. Chahma was a member of the Ad Hoc committee responsible for evaluating NSERC-RTI applications (4 years). His research interests lie between physical organic chemistry and surface modifications using conducting materials. He is  fluent in Arabic, English, Spanish, French and Tachelhite (basic).

• PhD in Electrochemistry-Denis Diderot University (Paris 7, France)/ESPCI
• MSC (DEA) in Electrochemistry-Denis Diderot University (Paris 7, France)/ESPCI
• Bachelor in Chemistry-University Cadi Ayyad/Ibn-Zohr (Agadir, Morocco)​

Full professor

1- Indirect electrode surface modifications via oxidative electropolymerization

2- Electrochemical/Biological polymer sensors

3- Radical functionalized oligo/polythiophenes

4- Electron transfer reactions

Our group is focused on the detection of biomolecules using chiral conducting surfaces (chiral electrodes). Our methodology  displays several advantages such as i) easy to prepare and control the thickness, ii) carrying several chemical functionalities that allows an easier functionalization of the conducting surfaces as well as the introduction of new molecules with different electronic/optical properties iii) stability and regeneration of the conducting surfaces, and iv) facilitating immobilization and sensing of the desired molecules.  In order to prepare chiral electrode, several mono and terthiophenes bearing amino acids such as (D/L)-alanine, (D/L)-leucine and (D/L)-proline have been prepared.

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Chiral electrode have been prepared by deposition of chiral films on platinum or carbon electrodes by electrochemical oxidation  via repeated cyclic voltammetry scans beyond the oxidation peak potential  of the chiral oligomers. The prepared chiral electrodes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry, and infrared. Moreover, the deposited films exhibit excellent chemical and electrochemical stability, which is a key point for discrimination of biomolecules. In order to test the recognition ability of these electrodes, the capacitive current of the chiral electrode has been measured in the absence and presence of a free amino acid such as L-leucine methyl ester (LeuOMe). We found that the capacitive current of the chiral electrode decreases by 30% after addition of 1 or 5 mM of LeuOMe. The change observed in the capacitive current is attributed to the formation of hydrogen bonds between the chiral surfaces and the free amino acids in solution. Such hydrogen bond formation between the chiral electrode and CF3COOH was confirmed by ATR-FTIR. (see insight front cover paper New J. Chem. 2014, 38, 3379-3385.) 

We are also interested in the synthesis and characterization of materials with multi-properties combining properties of conducting materials (polythiophenes) and stable radicals (nitroxides and verdazyl radicals), which will have application in energy storage. The presence of such radicals may affect the conducting and optical properties of these electrodes. For the first time, verdazyl radical  has been prepared  by electrochemical oxidation of the precursor (see New J. Chem. 2015, 39, 7738-7741. Letter)

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Students (undergraduate/graduate) interested in these topics, don’t hesitate to contact me: mchahma@laurentian.ca

​​Undergraduate scholarship

Graduate scholarship

Selected publications:

M’hamed Chahma and Oussama Ishak Chouana. "Stable Radical Functionalized Polythiophenes: Synthesis and Characterization"

                Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry. 2025. Accepted

M. Chahma. "Doped Polythiophene Chiral Electrodes as Electrochemical Biosensors".

               Electrochem. 2021, 2, 677-688.

M.Chahma, R. Riopel  and G. Arteca. "Synthesis, characterization and modeling of stable radical functionalized monothiophenes".

               J. Sulfur Chem. 2021, 42, 464-475.

M. Chahma and C. Carruthers. "Electrochemical detection of oligonucleotides using polypyrroles".

               Sensors and Actuators Reports, 2021, 3, 100039. Review

M. Chahma and S. Almubayedh “Synthesis and characterization of terthiophene bearing stable radicals".

               Can. J. Chem. 2021, 99, 24-30.

J. G. Ibanez, M. E. Rincon, S. Gutierrez-Granados, M. Chahma, O. A. Jaramillo-Quintero, and B. A. Frontana-Uribe. “Conducting Polymers in the Fields of Energy, Environmental Remediation, and Chemical–Chiral Sensors”.

               Chem. Rev.  2018, 118, 4731-4816. Review

S. Almubayedh and M. Chahma, “Electro-synthesis and characterization of verdazyl radical functionalized oligo/polythiophenes”

               New J. Chem. 2015, 39, 7738-7741. Letter

K. M. Koczkur, E. M. Hamed,  M. Chahma, D. F. Thomas and A. Houmam, “Electron Transfer Initiated Formation of Covalently Bound Organic Layers on Silicon Surfaces”

               J. Phys. Chem. C, 2014. 118, 20908–20915.

Chahma, M; McTiernan, M.D.; Abbas, S. A.; “Characterization of phenomena occurring at the interface of chiral conducting surfaces”.

               New. J. Chem. 2014, 38, 3379-3385.  Inside front cover for August issue

McTiernan, M.D.; Abbas, S. A.; Chahma, M. “Organic surface modification using stable conducting materials”.

               New. J. Chem. 2012, 36, 2106–2111.

McTiernan, M. D.; Chahma, M. “Chiral conducting surfaces based on the electropolymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene”.

               Synth. Met. 2011, 161, 1532-1536.

McTiernan, M. D.; Omri, K.; Chahma, M. “Chiral conducting surfaces via electrochemical oxidation of L-leucine-oligothiophenes”.

               J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 6096-6103.

Chahma, M.; Li, X.; Phillips, L. P.; Schwartz, P.; Brammer, L. E.; Wang, T.;  Tanko, J. M. “Activation/driving force relationships for cyclopropylcarbinyl homoallyl-type rearrangements of radical anions”. 

               J. Phys. Chem. A. 2005, 109, 3372-3382.

Chahma, M.; Combellas, C.; Thiébault, A. “Delocalized nitrogen carbanions in SRN1 reactions”.

               J. Org. Chem. 1995, 60, 8015-8022.