About employee

doc. dr. sc. Željka Car

Title: Assistant Professor
Location: 307
Public phone number:+385 1 4606 407
Internal phone number:6407
E-mail: E-mail
Department: Division of Organic Chemistry
PhD graduation year:2011

Teaching

graduate

integrated undergraduate and graduate

Biography

Education at Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb: Diploma thesis (Chemistry, 2001); Doctoral thesis (Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, 2011).

Affiliation and current position: Division of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb: Assistant Prof (2021-)

Previous positions: Expert Advisor (2017 - 2021), Postdoctoral researcher (2015 - 2017), Senior Assistant (2011–2015), Assistant (2005–2011), Division of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb.

Research interest:

Synthesis of desmuramyl peptides, pyridinones and their glycosylated and lipophilic analogs for the purpose of evaluation of their biological activity such as adjuvant, antitumor and anti-adhesion activity; synthesis and enzymic transformation of multifunctional compounds such as monosaccharides and nucleosides.

Scientific papers: co-author of 23 scientific papers

Awards and recognitions and memberships: Member of the Croatian Chemical Society (CCS), Croatian Society of Chemical Engineers (CSCE)

Research Project Participant:

  • Research Project (IP-2025-02-5568) funded by Croatian Science Foundation: „The peptide adjuvants: synthesis, structural characterization and immunological evaluation" (R. Ribić, 10.12.2025. – 09.12. 2028.) 
  • Research Project (IP-2020-02-4467) funded by Croatian Science Foundation: „From nitrogen-containing aromatic compounds to new functional organic-based materials" (I. Biljan, 01.01.2021. – 31.12. 2024.)
  • Research Project (IP-2020-02-9162) funded by Croatian Science Foundation: „Ferrocene Analogues of Biomolecules: Structural Characterization and Biological Evaluation“ (L. Barišić, 11.01.2021. - 10.01.2025.)
  • Research Project (IP-09-2014) funded by Croatian Science Foundation: "Synthesis, Structural Analysis and Biological Evaluation of Peptidomimetics and Glycoconjugates" (S. Tomić-Pisarović, 2015.-2019.)
  • Project funded by European Regional Development Fund and Croatian state budget: "Development of new methodology for the control of drug preparation processes" - Met4Pharm (P. Novak, 2014 - 2016)

List of select publications

1. Ž. Car, M. Kovačević, V. Petrović Peroković, K. Čižmešija, R. Ribić, Š. Janež, Ž. Jakopin, L. Barišić, Ferrocene-Containing Desmuramylpeptides Adopt A Flexible Conformation and Exhibit NOD2 Agonistic Activity, Organometallics, 44 (2025), 2440-2456.

2. V. Petrović Peroković, M. Kovačević, M. Paurević, M. Bušljeta, Ž. Car, R. Ribić, L. Barišić, Ferrocene derivatives of desmuramyl peptide: Synthesis, conformational properties, and interactions with NOD2 receptor, Polyhedron 274 (2025), 117516-117516.

3. Ž. Car, M. Borovina, B. Panić, I. Biljan, Microwave-assisted reductive homocoupling of aromatic nitro monomers: synthesis of azo-linked porous organic polymers for CO2 capture, RSC Advances 15 (2025), 7332-7339.

4. A. Usenik, K. Leko, V. Petrović Peroković, Ž. Car, R. Ribić, K. Pičuljan, M. Hanževački, J. Draženović, J. Požar,
Hydrophobically driven hosting – What about the guest? J. Mol. Liq. 388 (2023) 122774-122774.

5. A. Brkić, M. Leibundgut, J. Jablonska, V. Zanki, Ž. Car, V. Petrović Peroković, A. Maršavelski, N. Ban, I. Gruić-Sovulj, Antibiotic hyper-resistance in a class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase with altered active site signature motif. Nat. Commun. 14 (2023) 5498.

6. V. Petrović Peroković, Ž. Car, M. Bušljeta, D. Mihelec, M. Paurević, S. Ivanković, R. Stojković, R. Ribić, Synthesis and Immunological Evaluation of Mannosylated Desmuramyl Dipeptides Modified by Lipophilic Triazole Substituents, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 23 (2022) 8628, 20.

7. V. Petrović Peroković, Ž. Car, J. Draženović, R. Stojković, L. Milković, M. Antica, Đ. Škalamera, S. Tomić, R. Ribić, Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Desmuramyl Dipeptides Modified by Adamantyl-1,2,3- triazole, Molecules 26 (2021) 6352.  

List of select projects

Project leader:

2022.-2023. "Microwave-assisted synthesis of bioactive hydroxypyridinones", Zaklada HAZU

Researcher on projects:

  • Croatian Science Foundation project IP-2025-02-5568 „The peptide adjuvants: synthesis, structural characterization and immunological evaluation" (R. Ribić, 10.12.2025. – 09.12. 2028.) 
  • Croatian Science Foundation project IP-2020-02-4467 „From nitrogen-containing aromatic compounds to new functional organic-based materials" (I. Biljan, 01.01.2021. – 31.12. 2024.)
  • Croatian Science Foundation project IP-2020-02-9162 „Ferrocene analogues of biomolecules: structural characterization and biological evaluation“ (L. Barišić, 11.01.2021. - 10.01.2025.)

  • Croatian Science Foundation project IP-2014-09-7899 „Synthesis, Structural Analysis and Biological Evaluation of Peptidomimetics and Glycoconjugates“ (S. Tomić-Pisarović, 2015.-2019.)
  • Project funded by European Regional Development Fund and Croatian state budget "Development of a new methodology for controlling the drug preparation process"Met4Pharm (P. Novak, 2014 - 2016)