News | The Morrill Research Group

23/02/2024 – Congratulations to Salma, whose work on accessing highly substituted indoles via borane-catalyzed secondary alkyl group transfer has been published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Pulis research group at the University of Leicester and the Melen lab!

24/11/2023 – Congratulations to James for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Jon Wilden and Prof. Thomas Wirth for examining! We hope that you enjoy your new job at Domainex!
15/10/2023 – We have a fully funded 3.5-year PhD studentship (UK and Irish students only) in our group investigating synthetic organic electro(photo)chemistry at the University of Bath from Oct 2024. Application deadline is 10th December. Get in touch if interested! [link]
01/10/2023 – Welcome to Eman (PhD), Michael R (PhD), Tanmay (PhD), Kharou (PhD), and Michael P (MChem), who are joining the group for research projects!
27/06/2023 – Welcome to Jamie (MSc), Gwen (MSc), Asma (PhD), and Abdulrahman (PhD), who are joining the group for research projects!
19/06/2023 – Welcome to Ted, who joins the group for his CUROP summer placement!
16/06/2023 – Congratulations to Joe, Salma, Laura, and Lei, whose review on recent advances in catalysis using organoborane mediated hydride abstraction has been published in Synlett! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Pulis research group at the University of Leicester and the Melen lab! [Invited contribution to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Matteson homologation] [Highlighted in the 14th EuCheMS Young Investigators Workshop Special Issue]
15/05/2023 – Congratulations to Betty for passing her PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Ben Partridge and Prof. Ian Fallis for examining! We hope that you enjoy your new job at Selvita in Poland!
13/04/2023 – Congratulations to Matt, whose work on Ni-catalyzed intramolecular alkene difunctionalization by ball-milling has been published in Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Browne research group at UCL!
03/03/2023 – Congratulations to Matt for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr David Nelson and Dr Matthew Tredwell for examining! We hope that you enjoy your postdoc within the Bolm Group.

28/02/2023 – Congratulations to Albara, Hussain and James whose Highlight on the Electrochemical Generation and Utilization of Alkoxy Radicals has been published in Chemical Communications! [link] [Part of themed collection: Chemical Communications Hot Articles 2023]

24/02/2023 – Congratulations to James, Hussain and Albara, whose work on the Deconstructive Functionalization of Unstrained Cycloalkanols via Electrochemically-Generated Aromatic Radical Cations has been published in Organic Letters! [link] This research is performed in collaboration with AstraZeneca.

13/02/2023 – Welcome to Tahir and Luis, who join the group as a PDRA and BSc project student, respectively!
14/11/2022 – Congratulations to Betty, whose work on the One-Pot Synthesis of Styrene Derivatives from Allyl Silanes via B(C₆F₅)₃-Catalyzed Isomerization – Hiyama Coupling has been published in Organic Letters! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with Rebecca Melen at Cardiff University!

27/10/2022 – Congratulations to Alex for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Alastair Lennox and Prof. Rebecca Melen for examining! We wish you all the best for the future at CatSci!
26/10/2022 – Congratulations to Mubarak for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr James Taylor and Prof. Duncan Wass for examining! We wish you all the best for the future!
18/10/2022 – Congratulations to Andy and Matt, whose work on the Mechanical Activation of Zero-Valent Metal Reductants for Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Electrophile Coupling has been published in ACS Catalysis! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Browne research group at UCL!

10/10/2022 – Welcome to Ethan and Emily, who join the group to start their MChem projects!
08/08/2022 – Congratulations to Betty and Salma, whose work on the B(C₆F₅)₃-Catalyzed (E)-Selective Isomerization of Alkenes has been published in Chemistry – A European Journal! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Grayson research group at the University of Bath and Rebecca Melen at Cardiff University!

07/07/2022 – Congratulations to Alex, Deepak and Tom, whose work on the electrochemical alkene azidocyanation via 1,4-nitrile migration has been published in Chem. Commun.! [link]
05/07/2022 – Welcome to Abbie and Alex, who join the group for research placements!
07/06/2022 – Our research team has been awarded the 2022 Hickinbottom Award by the RSC! All credit goes to the members of the research group and to our excellent collaborators – well done all! [link]
07/06/2022 – Welcome to Dan, who joins the group for his CUROP summer placement!
19/05/2022 – Congratulations to Deepak, Albara, James, Alex and Andy, whose work on the electrochemical deconstructive functionalization of cycloalkanols via alkoxy radicals enabled by proton-coupled electron transfer has been published in Org. Lett.! [link]

29/04/2022 – Congratulations to Dan for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Prof. Martin Wills and Dr Paul Newman for examining! We wish you all the best for the future and your new job at Sygnature Discovery!

01/02/2022 – Welcome to Gwen, who joins the group to start her BSc research project!
18/01/2022 – Congratulations to Deepak for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Benjamin Buckley and Dr Niek Buurma for examining! Deepak will soon join the Larrosa group at the University of Manchester as a PDRA! We wish you all the best for the future!
15/11/2021 – Congratulations to the Luk group, whose work on the role of streptavidin and its variants in catalysis by biotinylated secondary amines has been published in Organic and Biological Chemistry! [link]

06/11/2021 – Congratulations to James and Deepak, whose work on the electrochemical oxidative Z-selective C(sp2)-H chlorination of acrylamides has been published in Chem. Commun. (invited contribution to the 2021 Emerging Investigators themed collection)! [link]
29/10/2021 – Congratulations to Matt, whose review on mechanochemical organocatalysis has been published in ChemSusChem! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Browne research group at UCL!
04/10/2021 – Welcome to Hussain and Luke, who join the group to start their PhD and MChem projects, respectively!
18/08/2021 – Congratulations to the Browne group, whose work on the ball milling enabled reactivity of manganese metal has been published in Angewandte Chemie! [link]
23/06/2021 – Welcome to Lia and Adam, who join the group to start their MSc research projects!
15/03/2021 – Congratulations to Ben, Dan and Mubarak whose review on borrowing hydrogen for organic synthesis has been published in ACS Central Science! [link]

27/01/2021 – Congratulations to Shyam, Laura, and Betty whose review on electron deficient borane-mediated hydride abstraction in amines has been published in Chemical Society Reviews! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Pulis research group at the University of Leicester and the Melen lab!
14/01/2021 – Congratulations to the Luk group, whose work on transfer hydrogenations catalyzed by steptavidin-hosted secondary amine organocatalyst has been published in Chemical Communications! [link]
20/11/2020 – We are sad to say goodbye to our excellent postdoc Shyam, who after 2 great years with us, will soon be joining Sygnature Discovery a Senior Scientist in Nottingham! We wish you all the best for the future!

09/11/2020 – Congratulations to Matt, whose work on the Expedient Organocatalytic Aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman Reaction Through Ball-Milling has been published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Browne research group!

01/10/2020 – Welcome to James and Salma, who join the group to start their PhDs! Salma is funded by a Newton-Mosharafa PhD Studentship. Also welcome to Jake, Tom and Luke, who join the group to start their final year MChem projects!
01/09/2020 – Congratulations to Mubarak, Joe and Rob whose work on the Transition Metal Free α-C-Alkylation of Ketones Using Secondary Alcohols has been published in Tetrahedron (Invited contribution to the Special Issue in memory of Prof. Jonathan Williams)! [link]

25/08/2020 – Congratulations to Ben Reed-Berendt for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Steve Thomas and Dr Ian Fallis for examining! Ben has joined CatSci as a Process Development Chemist! We wish you all the best for the future!
20/05/2020 – Congratulations to the Luk group, whose work on the streptavidin-hosted organocatalytic aldol addition has been published in Molecules (invited contribution to the Hybrid Catalysts for Asymmetric Catalysis Special Issue)! [link]

02/04/2020 – Congratulations to Shyam, Ana and Laura, whose work on the B(C₆F₅)₃-Catalyzed Direct C3 Alkylation of Indoles and Oxindoles has been published in ACS Catalysis! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Pulis research group at the University of Leicester and the Melen lab!
27/01/2020 – Welcome to Adam who joins the group to start his final year BSc project!
21/01/2020 – Congratulations to Ben and Nicolas, whose work on the Manganese-Catalyzed One-Pot Conversion of Nitroarenes into N-Methylarylamines Using Methanol has been published in the European Journal of Organic Chemistry (invited contribution to the 2020 YourJOC Talent Special Issue)! [link]
08/01/2020 – Congratulations to Kurt Polidano for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Prof. Steve Marsden and Dr Ben Ward for examining! Kurt will soon be joining CatSci as a Process Development Chemist! We wish you all the best for the future!
06/01/2020 – Welcome to Abdulbari, who joins the group to start his PhD!
26/11/2019 – We are sad to say goodbye to our excellent postdoc Ben, who after 2 great years with us, will soon be joining Pharmaron as a Senior Scientist in Cardiff Bay! We wish you all the best for the future!
30/10/2019 – Congratulations to Ben, Deepak, Alex and Tom, whose work on the Manganese-Catalyzed Electrochemical Deconstructive Chlorination of Cycloalkanols via Alkoxy Radicals has been published in Organic Letters! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Browne and Wirth research groups!
29/10/2019 – We have a fully funded 3-year PhD studentship available for UK/EU students in synthetic organic chemistry to develop new transformations involving radical chemistry, starting 1st July 2020 – Position filled.
29/10/2019 – Congratulations to Will, Alex, Saqib and Ben, whose work on N-heterocyclic carbene acyl anion organocatalysis by ball-milling has been published in ChemSusChem! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with our good friends in the Browne research group!
23/10/2019 – Congratulations to Kurt, whose work on iron-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen β-C(sp³)-methylation has highlighted in Synfacts! [link]
01/10/2019 – Welcome to Betty and Albara, who join the group to start their PhDs! Betty is funded by a Faculty for the Future scholarship and a Vice-Chancellor’s International Scholarship for Research Excellence. Albara is funded through a AstraZeneca CASE award.
30/09/2019 – Welcome to Ioan, Mark and Joe, who join the group to start their final year MChem projects!
13/09/2019 – Congratulations to Dan and Kurt, whose work on the one-pot conversion of allylic alcohols to α-methyl ketones via iron-catalyzed isomerization-methylation has been published in Organic Letters! [link]
15/08/2019 – Congratulations to Kurt, whose work on iron-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen β-C(sp³)-methylation has been published in ACS Catalysis – an excellent solo-author effort from Kurt! [link]
09/08/2019 – We are sad to say goodbye to three excellent summer research project students – Rob, Nicolas and Seán! We wish you all the best for the future!
29/07/2019 – Welcome to Matt, who joins the group to start his PhD! Matt is part of the CDT in Catalysis and the research project will be collaborative with Dr Duncan Browne and Dr Alastair Lennox.
19/06/2019 – We welcome Rob and Seán, who join the group for summer research internships!
07/05/2019 – Welcome to Nicolas, who joins the group as a visiting undergraduate student from ENSCR!
08/04/2019 – Congratulations to Mubarak and Kurt, whose work on iron-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen C-alkylation of oxindoles using alcohols has been published in ChemSusChem! [link]
15/02/2019 – Congratulations to Ben R-B, whose work on manganese-catalyzed N-alkylation of sulfonamides using alcohols has been published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry! The first solo-author paper from the group – great job Ben! [link]
20/12/2018 – We have a fully funded 3.5-year AZ iCASE PhD studentship available for UK/EU students in synthetic organic electrochemistry to start in October 2019 – Position filled.
13/11/2018 – Congratulations to James Ayres for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Marc Kimber and Prof. Thomas Wirth for examining. Next stop for James is a PDRA with Dr Richard Foster at the University of Leeds!
01/10/2018 – Welcome to Alex B, Callum and Beth, who join the group to start their final year MChem projects!
01/10/2018 – Welcome to Alex and Deepak, who join the group to start their PhDs!
24/09/2018 – A big welcome to Shyam who joins the group as a PDRA to continue our collaborative research with Dr Rebecca Melen in frustrated Lewis pair catalysis!
30/08/2018 – Congratulations to Ben R-B and Kurt, whose review on the recent advances in homogeneous borrowing hydrogen catalysis using earth-abundant first row transition metals has been published in OBC (invited contribution to the 2018 New Talent Special Issue)! [link]
14/08/2018 – Congratulations to Imtiaz and Ben R-B, whose work on the FLP-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of silyl enol ethers has been published in Angewante Chemie! [link]
10/08/2018 – Congratulations to James and Matt W, whose work on the synthesis and reactivity of N-allenyl cyanamides has been published in Organic Letters! [link]
06/08/2018 – We welcome undergraduates Joe and Luke, who join the group for summer research internships!
19/07/2018 – Congratulations to the Luk group, whose work on protein-hosted iminium organocatalysis has been published in Angewandte Chemie! [link]
12/07/2018 – A big welcome to Dan who joins the group to start his PhD!
13/06/2018 – We are sad to say goodbye to our first postdoc Imtiaz, who after 2 years with us, will soon be joining the Greaney Group at The University of Manchester! We wish you all the best for the future!
11/06/2018 – Congratulations to Kurt and Ben whose work on iron-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen methylation has been published in ACS Catalysis! [link]
11/06/2018 – We welcome 2nd year undergraduates Ashley and Tom, who join the group for summer research internships!
11/05/2018 – We are recruiting for a new postdoctoral research associate within the group, focused on a collaborative research project with Dr Rebecca Melen entitled “The Productive Merger of Organocatalysis and Frustrated Lewis Pairs” – Position filled.
19/04/2018 – We are sad to say goodbye to Alex S, Alex N, Matt, Sam and Connor who have all completed their undergraduate research placements in the group! We wish you the best of luck for your exams!
03/04/2018 – A big welcome to Mubarak who joins the group to start his PhD!
28/02/2018 – PhD student Ben gives a walking tour of the lab! [link]
29/01/2018 – We welcome Sam and Connor, who join the group for their undergraduate research projects!
25/01/2018 – A fully funded PhD studentship for UK/EU applicants is available in the group starting in October 2018 – Position filled.
17/01/2018 – Five group members present our latest research at the RSC Organic Division South West Regional Meeting at the University of Bristol!
15/12/2017 – We are sad to say goodbye to Marcus, who has completed his ERASMUS placement in the group and will return to Aarhus University!
04/12/2017 – Congratulations to Kurt and Ben whose work has been published in Organic Letters! [link]
27/11/2017 – We welcome Ben, who joins us as a PDRA from Prof. Joe Harrity’s group at the University of Sheffield. We are thankful to the EPSRC for funding!
12/10/2017 – Congratulations to Imtiaz and Mattia whose work has been published in ACS Catalysis! [link] The start of a productive collaboration with the Melen lab!
02/10/2017 – A big welcome to Alex S, Alex N and Matt who join the group for their MChem projects! Marcus also joins the group from Aarhus University for his Masters research project!
21/07/2017 – There exists an opportunity for a EPSRC-funded postdoctoral research associate within the group, focused on a collaborative research project with Dr Duncan Browne and Prof. Thomas Wirth that will investigate the productive merger of organocatalysis with electrochemistry to develop novel electroorganic catalysis using both batch and flow technologies. See Job Advert for details of how to apply! – Position filled
10/07/2017 – Matt joins the group for his CUROP summer placement!
01/07/2017 – We will be advertising soon to recruit a new postdoctoral research associate in the group… watch this space!
30/06/2017 – Congratulations to James, Matt, Yannick and Vassili whose work on the deoxycyanamidation of alcohols has been published in Organic Letters! [link]
26/06/2017 – Alex joins the group for his CUROP summer placement!
11/05/2017 – The group have moved to their new lab – check out the photos!
01/05/2017 – Matt, Dan, Max, Bryna, Tom and Anaïs have all successfully completed their research projects and submitted their thesis! We wish you all the best for the future!
04/04/2017 – The group attends the Bristol Synthesis Meeting, while Louis presents James’ and Imtiaz’ research at the 253rd ACS Meeting and at Theravance Biopharma.
01/02/2017 – The whole group attended the RSC Organic Division South-West Regional Meeting, where James presented a poster of his research!
23/01/2017 – Tom and Anaïs join the group as undergraduate research students – welcome!
28/10/2016 – Yannick completes his RISE Worldwide Scholarship (DAAD) placement. We wish you all the best for the remainder of your undergraduate degree at the University of Stuggart!
12/10/2016 – Congratulations to James, whose work on the N-cyanation of secondary amines has been published in Organic Letters! [link]
03/10/2016 – Lots of new faces around the lab! Ben and Kurt start their Ph.D. projects while Dan, Bryna, Matt and Max all join as M.Chem. students – welcome to all!
19/09/2016 – Alexi has completed his summer placement, leaving us with some exciting results to pursue! We wish him all the best for the upcoming academic year!
12/09/2016 – We welcome Ng Yoke Yin to the group. She joins us for a 4-month placement from Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore!
30/08/2016 – Vassili and Anissa complete their summer internships and return to the ENSCCF. We wish you both all the best for the future!
15/08/2016 – We welcome Yannick to the group. He was awarded a prestigious RISE Worldwide Scholarship (DAAD) to join us for a 3 month internship and is raring to get started in the lab – welcome!
29/07/2016 – Vlad’s time with us as an RSC Undergraduate Summer Scholar has come to an end. We wish him all the best for his upcoming MChem industrial placement with PCI Pharma.
13/06/2016 – We welcome our first PDRA, Imtiaz, who joins us from Prof. Hon Wai Lam’s group at Nottingham University. Imtiaz will be working on a collaborative research project with Dr Rebecca Melen. We are thankful to the Leverhulme Trust for funding!
13/06/2016 – We welcome Cardiff chemistry undergraduate students Matt and Alexi who join the group for summer research placements!
06/06/2016 – We welcome Anissa and Vassili who both join the group as ERASMUS visiting students from SIGMA Clermont Chemical Engineering School in France! We hope you enjoy your time with us in Cardiff!
06/06/2016 – We welcome Cardiff chemistry undergraduate student Vlad who joins the group! Vlad will be working on a joint project with Dr Rebecca Melen.

01/06/2016 – We welcome Taniya to the group for her CDT Research Sabbatical 2 project – looking forward to exploring some dual catalysis!
24/05/2016 – Our three M.Chem. students (Ben, Matt and Tyler) have finished up their project work in the lab. Good luck with exams and beyond! We are delighted to announce that Ben will be joining us for his Ph.D., starting October 2016!
24/05/2016 – Niall has completed his B.Sc. project work in the group. We wish him the best of luck for the future! Check out the past group members page
24/05/2016 – Our Catalysis CDT research sabbatical students Jonathan and Mattia finish their projects. We wish them all the best with their research sabbatical 2 placements and their PhDs! Check out the past group members page

02/03/2016 – We are delighted to receive a Research Grant from The Royal Society, which will enable us to perform chiral HPLC analysis of our reactions!
01/02/2016 – We welcome both Jonathan and Mattia to the group as CDT Research Sabbatical 1 students. Jonathan and Mattia will be working on collaboratively supervised projects with Dr Louis Luk and Dr Rebecca Melen respectively.
25/01/2016 – Niall joins the group as a Bachelors project student – welcome!
16/12/2015 – Our recent funding success has been highlighted on the School of Chemistry webpages. Apply now for available postdoctoral position.
10/12/2015 – There exists an opportunity for a 3-year postdoctoral research associate position within the group, focused on a collaborative research project with Dr Rebecca Melen entitled “The Productive Merger of Organocatalysis and Frustrated Lewis Pairs“. For more information and informal enquiries, please contact us (MorrillLC@cardiff.ac.uk) with the subject heading “PDRA in Synthetic Organic Chemistry” with a brief covering letter and CV. Formal applications must be made here (Ref. No. 4220BR).
4/12/2015 – We are delighted to receive a grant from The Leverhulme Trust for a collaborative research project with Dr Rebecca Melen.
24/10/2015 – Be sure to follow the group on twitter @MorrillGroup
16/10/2015 – Research from Louis’ time at St Andrews University with the Smith group is published in Chemistry – An Asian Journal. [link] Congratulations to Dan and Andy on some great work!
5/10/2015 – James joins as the group’s 1st Ph.D. student – welcome!
28/09/2015 – Ben, Matt and Tyler all join the group as Masters students – welcome!
14/09/2015 – Louis has been awarded an Early-Career Researcher Bursary to attend the Dial-a-Molecule EPSRC Grand Challenge Network meeting “Lead-Oriented Synthesis: Exploring Drug-Relevant Chemical Diversity” at GSK (Stevenage), 25th September.
24/08/2015 – Louis has been awarded a Tom Lee Bursary to present at the Gregynog Synthesis Workshop in Newtown, 9-11th September.

17/07/2015 – Photos added of the Chemistry building at Cardiff University and setting up our new lab! [link]
13/06/2015 – Research from Louis’ time at St Andrews University with the Smith group is published in Chemistry – A European Journal. [link] Congratulations to Siobhan and the rest of the research team!
01/06/2015 – Louis arrives in Cardiff and begins to set-up the research group.
20/04/2015 – The group joins the Cardiff Catalysis Institute (CCI) and the Cardiff-Bristol-Bath Catalysis CDT.
14/01/2015 – There is currently a Ph.D. opportunity in the group – Position filled.
14/01/2015 – Group website goes live.

24/11/2023 – Congratulations to James for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Jon Wilden and Prof. Thomas Wirth for examining! We hope that you enjoy your new job at Domainex!

15/10/2023 – We have a fully funded 3.5-year PhD studentship (UK and Irish students only) in our group investigating synthetic organic electro(photo)chemistry at the University of Bath from Oct 2024. Application deadline is 10th December. Get in touch if interested! [link]

01/10/2023 – Welcome to Eman (PhD), Michael R (PhD), Tanmay (PhD), Kharou (PhD), and Michael P (MChem), who are joining the group for research projects!

27/06/2023 – Welcome to Jamie (MSc), Gwen (MSc), Asma (PhD), and Abdulrahman (PhD), who are joining the group for research projects!

19/06/2023 – Welcome to Ted, who joins the group for his CUROP summer placement!

15/05/2023 – Congratulations to Betty for passing her PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Ben Partridge and Prof. Ian Fallis for examining! We hope that you enjoy your new job at Selvita in Poland!

13/04/2023 – Congratulations to Matt, whose work on Ni-catalyzed intramolecular alkene difunctionalization by ball-milling has been published in Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Browne research group at UCL!

03/03/2023 – Congratulations to Matt for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr David Nelson and Dr Matthew Tredwell for examining! We hope that you enjoy your postdoc within the Bolm Group.

28/02/2023 – Congratulations to Albara, Hussain and James whose Highlight on the Electrochemical Generation and Utilization of Alkoxy Radicals has been published in Chemical Communications! [link] [Part of themed collection: Chemical Communications Hot Articles 2023]

13/02/2023 – Welcome to Tahir and Luis, who join the group as a PDRA and BSc project student, respectively!

27/10/2022 – Congratulations to Alex for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Alastair Lennox and Prof. Rebecca Melen for examining! We wish you all the best for the future at CatSci!

26/10/2022 – Congratulations to Mubarak for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr James Taylor and Prof. Duncan Wass for examining! We wish you all the best for the future!

18/10/2022 – Congratulations to Andy and Matt, whose work on the Mechanical Activation of Zero-Valent Metal Reductants for Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Electrophile Coupling has been published in ACS Catalysis! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Browne research group at UCL!

10/10/2022 – Welcome to Ethan and Emily, who join the group to start their MChem projects!

07/07/2022 – Congratulations to Alex, Deepak and Tom, whose work on the electrochemical alkene azidocyanation via 1,4-nitrile migration has been published in Chem. Commun.! [link]

05/07/2022 – Welcome to Abbie and Alex, who join the group for research placements!

07/06/2022 – Our research team has been awarded the 2022 Hickinbottom Award by the RSC! All credit goes to the members of the research group and to our excellent collaborators – well done all! [link]

07/06/2022 – Welcome to Dan, who joins the group for his CUROP summer placement!

19/05/2022 – Congratulations to Deepak, Albara, James, Alex and Andy, whose work on the electrochemical deconstructive functionalization of cycloalkanols via alkoxy radicals enabled by proton-coupled electron transfer has been published in Org. Lett.! [link]

29/04/2022 – Congratulations to Dan for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Prof. Martin Wills and Dr Paul Newman for examining! We wish you all the best for the future and your new job at Sygnature Discovery!

01/02/2022 – Welcome to Gwen, who joins the group to start her BSc research project!

18/01/2022 – Congratulations to Deepak for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Benjamin Buckley and Dr Niek Buurma for examining! Deepak will soon join the Larrosa group at the University of Manchester as a PDRA! We wish you all the best for the future!

15/11/2021 – Congratulations to the Luk group, whose work on the role of streptavidin and its variants in catalysis by biotinylated secondary amines has been published in Organic and Biological Chemistry! [link]

06/11/2021 – Congratulations to James and Deepak, whose work on the electrochemical oxidative Z-selective C(sp2)-H chlorination of acrylamides has been published in Chem. Commun. (invited contribution to the 2021 Emerging Investigators themed collection)! [link]

29/10/2021 – Congratulations to Matt, whose review on mechanochemical organocatalysis has been published in ChemSusChem! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Browne research group at UCL!

04/10/2021 – Welcome to Hussain and Luke, who join the group to start their PhD and MChem projects, respectively!

18/08/2021 – Congratulations to the Browne group, whose work on the ball milling enabled reactivity of manganese metal has been published in Angewandte Chemie! [link]

23/06/2021 – Welcome to Lia and Adam, who join the group to start their MSc research projects!

15/03/2021 – Congratulations to Ben, Dan and Mubarak whose review on borrowing hydrogen for organic synthesis has been published in ACS Central Science! [link]

14/01/2021 – Congratulations to the Luk group, whose work on transfer hydrogenations catalyzed by steptavidin-hosted secondary amine organocatalyst has been published in Chemical Communications! [link]

20/11/2020 – We are sad to say goodbye to our excellent postdoc Shyam, who after 2 great years with us, will soon be joining Sygnature Discovery a Senior Scientist in Nottingham! We wish you all the best for the future!

09/11/2020 – Congratulations to Matt, whose work on the Expedient Organocatalytic Aza-Morita-Baylis-Hillman Reaction Through Ball-Milling has been published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with the Browne research group!

01/10/2020 – Welcome to James and Salma, who join the group to start their PhDs! Salma is funded by a Newton-Mosharafa PhD Studentship. Also welcome to Jake, Tom and Luke, who join the group to start their final year MChem projects!

01/09/2020 – Congratulations to Mubarak, Joe and Rob whose work on the Transition Metal Free α-C-Alkylation of Ketones Using Secondary Alcohols has been published in Tetrahedron (Invited contribution to the Special Issue in memory of Prof. Jonathan Williams)! [link]

25/08/2020 – Congratulations to Ben Reed-Berendt for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Steve Thomas and Dr Ian Fallis for examining! Ben has joined CatSci as a Process Development Chemist! We wish you all the best for the future!

20/05/2020 – Congratulations to the Luk group, whose work on the streptavidin-hosted organocatalytic aldol addition has been published in Molecules (invited contribution to the Hybrid Catalysts for Asymmetric Catalysis Special Issue)! [link]

27/01/2020 – Welcome to Adam who joins the group to start his final year BSc project!

21/01/2020 – Congratulations to Ben and Nicolas, whose work on the Manganese-Catalyzed One-Pot Conversion of Nitroarenes into N-Methylarylamines Using Methanol has been published in the European Journal of Organic Chemistry (invited contribution to the 2020 YourJOC Talent Special Issue)! [link]

08/01/2020 – Congratulations to Kurt Polidano for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Prof. Steve Marsden and Dr Ben Ward for examining! Kurt will soon be joining CatSci as a Process Development Chemist! We wish you all the best for the future!

06/01/2020 – Welcome to Abdulbari, who joins the group to start his PhD!

26/11/2019 – We are sad to say goodbye to our excellent postdoc Ben, who after 2 great years with us, will soon be joining Pharmaron as a Senior Scientist in Cardiff Bay! We wish you all the best for the future!

29/10/2019 – We have a fully funded 3-year PhD studentship available for UK/EU students in synthetic organic chemistry to develop new transformations involving radical chemistry, starting 1st July 2020 – Position filled.

29/10/2019 – Congratulations to Will, Alex, Saqib and Ben, whose work on N-heterocyclic carbene acyl anion organocatalysis by ball-milling has been published in ChemSusChem! [link] This was a collaborative research effort with our good friends in the Browne research group!

23/10/2019 – Congratulations to Kurt, whose work on iron-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen β-C(sp3)-methylation has highlighted in Synfacts! [link]

01/10/2019 – Welcome to Betty and Albara, who join the group to start their PhDs! Betty is funded by a Faculty for the Future scholarship and a Vice-Chancellor’s International Scholarship for Research Excellence. Albara is funded through a AstraZeneca CASE award.

30/09/2019 – Welcome to Ioan, Mark and Joe, who join the group to start their final year MChem projects!

13/09/2019 – Congratulations to Dan and Kurt, whose work on the one-pot conversion of allylic alcohols to α-methyl ketones via iron-catalyzed isomerization-methylation has been published in Organic Letters! [link]

15/08/2019 – Congratulations to Kurt, whose work on iron-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen β-C(sp3)-methylation has been published in ACS Catalysis – an excellent solo-author effort from Kurt! [link]

09/08/2019 – We are sad to say goodbye to three excellent summer research project students – Rob, Nicolas and Seán! We wish you all the best for the future!

29/07/2019 – Welcome to Matt, who joins the group to start his PhD! Matt is part of the CDT in Catalysis and the research project will be collaborative with Dr Duncan Browne and Dr Alastair Lennox.

19/06/2019 – We welcome Rob and Seán, who join the group for summer research internships!

07/05/2019 – Welcome to Nicolas, who joins the group as a visiting undergraduate student from ENSCR!

08/04/2019 – Congratulations to Mubarak and Kurt, whose work on iron-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen C-alkylation of oxindoles using alcohols has been published in ChemSusChem! [link]

15/02/2019 – Congratulations to Ben R-B, whose work on manganese-catalyzed N-alkylation of sulfonamides using alcohols has been published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry! The first solo-author paper from the group – great job Ben! [link]

20/12/2018 – We have a fully funded 3.5-year AZ iCASE PhD studentship available for UK/EU students in synthetic organic electrochemistry to start in October 2019 – Position filled.

13/11/2018 – Congratulations to James Ayres for passing his PhD viva today! Thanks to Dr Marc Kimber and Prof. Thomas Wirth for examining. Next stop for James is a PDRA with Dr Richard Foster at the University of Leeds!

01/10/2018 – Welcome to Alex B, Callum and Beth, who join the group to start their final year MChem projects!

01/10/2018 – Welcome to Alex and Deepak, who join the group to start their PhDs!

24/09/2018 – A big welcome to Shyam who joins the group as a PDRA to continue our collaborative research with Dr Rebecca Melen in frustrated Lewis pair catalysis!

30/08/2018 – Congratulations to Ben R-B and Kurt, whose review on the recent advances in homogeneous borrowing hydrogen catalysis using earth-abundant first row transition metals has been published in OBC (invited contribution to the 2018 New Talent Special Issue)! [link]

14/08/2018 – Congratulations to Imtiaz and Ben R-B, whose work on the FLP-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of silyl enol ethers has been published in Angewante Chemie! [link]

10/08/2018 – Congratulations to James and Matt W, whose work on the synthesis and reactivity of N-allenyl cyanamides has been published in Organic Letters! [link]

06/08/2018 – We welcome undergraduates Joe and Luke, who join the group for summer research internships!

19/07/2018 – Congratulations to the Luk group, whose work on protein-hosted iminium organocatalysis has been published in Angewandte Chemie! [link]

12/07/2018 – A big welcome to Dan who joins the group to start his PhD!

13/06/2018 – We are sad to say goodbye to our first postdoc Imtiaz, who after 2 years with us, will soon be joining the Greaney Group at The University of Manchester! We wish you all the best for the future!

11/06/2018 – Congratulations to Kurt and Ben whose work on iron-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen methylation has been published in ACS Catalysis! [link]

11/06/2018 – We welcome 2nd year undergraduates Ashley and Tom, who join the group for summer research internships!

11/05/2018 – We are recruiting for a new postdoctoral research associate within the group, focused on a collaborative research project with Dr Rebecca Melen entitled “The Productive Merger of Organocatalysis and Frustrated Lewis Pairs” – Position filled.

19/04/2018 – We are sad to say goodbye to Alex S, Alex N, Matt, Sam and Connor who have all completed their undergraduate research placements in the group! We wish you the best of luck for your exams!

03/04/2018 – A big welcome to Mubarak who joins the group to start his PhD!

28/02/2018 – PhD student Ben gives a walking tour of the lab! [link]

29/01/2018 – We welcome Sam and Connor, who join the group for their undergraduate research projects!

25/01/2018 – A fully funded PhD studentship for UK/EU applicants is available in the group starting in October 2018 – Position filled.

17/01/2018 – Five group members present our latest research at the RSC Organic Division South West Regional Meeting at the University of Bristol!

15/12/2017 – We are sad to say goodbye to Marcus, who has completed his ERASMUS placement in the group and will return to Aarhus University!

04/12/2017 – Congratulations to Kurt and Ben whose work has been published in Organic Letters! [link]

27/11/2017 – We welcome Ben, who joins us as a PDRA from Prof. Joe Harrity’s group at the University of Sheffield. We are thankful to the EPSRC for funding!

12/10/2017 – Congratulations to Imtiaz and Mattia whose work has been published in ACS Catalysis! [link] The start of a productive collaboration with the Melen lab!

02/10/2017 – A big welcome to Alex S, Alex N and Matt who join the group for their MChem projects! Marcus also joins the group from Aarhus University for his Masters research project!

23/10/2019 – Congratulations to Kurt, whose work on iron-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen β-C(sp³)-methylation has highlighted in Synfacts! [link]

15/08/2019 – Congratulations to Kurt, whose work on iron-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen β-C(sp³)-methylation has been published in ACS Catalysis – an excellent solo-author effort from Kurt! [link]