Diastereoselective C-C bond formation reported in JACS
Recent work from Deb in collaboration with Petra Vasko in Helsinki on C-C bond formation mediated by an anionic Al(I) reagent has just been published in JACS. This report discloses the reductive coupling of alkenes at Al(I) - with the mechanism for diastereoslective coupling between the most hindered carbons in propene being uncovered through the isolation of intermediate species and in-depth quantum chemical studies. Click on the pic for a link to this work...
RSC Main Group Meeting 2026
Members of the group participated in the RSC's Main Group Chemistry meeting in Edinburgh at the beginning of April. Simon gave the 2026 Lappert Prize Lecture (named in memory of the great Mike Lappert) on calcium fluoride chemistry; doctoral student Eve Poland (pictured - left) won the Dalton Transactions poster prize for her work on anionic tin and lead hydrides and their use in carbonyl reduction chemistry...
New faces for 2025-26
Welcome to new group members for the 2025-26 academic year: Hugo, Julia, Maisie, Harry, Leonie (top row), Nils, Elouise, Sam and Sean. Hugo, Maisie and Harry are final year (Part 2) MChem students; Julia is a visiting student from Freiburg; Sean, Elouise and Sam are new DPhil students (Elouise jointly supervised by Prof Mike Neidig, and Sam by Prof Véronique Gouverneur on the IMAT CDT programme); Nils and Leonie are new post-doctoral fellows joining us in January and April (supported by the EPSRC and the Humboldt Foundation).
