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Staff Profiles | |||
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILSBorn 1974. Undergraduate work carried out at the University of Adelaide (B.Sc. 1995) and in The Faculties, Australian National University (B.Sc.(Hons) 1996). Shell Australia Postgraduate Scholar, Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University (Ph.D. 2000). C. J. Martin Postdoctoral Fellow, University Chemical Laboratory, Cambridge (2000-2002). Associate Lecturer, The Open University in East Anglia (2001). Appointed Lecturer 2002. RESEARCH INTERESTSOur research falls broadly into the category of physical organic chemistry. However, the areas covered also include biological, bioorganic, synthetic, analytical and environmental chemistry and this demonstrates the range of areas that physical organic chemistry is applicable to. The breadth of topics also illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of the research and the significant scope for collaboration with groups in the more traditional areas of organic chemistry and biochemistry. The major areas of research are: Towards Control of Atropisomerism on Diketopiperazine Scaffolds Atropisomers are related by rotation about a single bond which is prevented, usually by steric constraints. The control of this novel type of isomerism has resulted in much interest since it is crucial in many natural products, notably the Vancomycin series of antibiotics. This project seeks to examine diketopiperazines (cyclic dipeptides) as a method of controlling atropisomerism. The aims are to synthesise a range of diketopiperazines and investigate conditions towards coupling the side chains. The factors affecting the selectivity will be examined and the conditions for interconversion of atropisomers studied. Ionic Liquids as Novel Reaction Media Ionic liquids, also known as room temperature molten salts, are rapidly being developed as an alternative to environmentally harmful organic solvents. They are liquid over a large temperature range, have essentially no vapour pressure and are extremely good solvents for a range of organic, inorganic and polymeric compounds. Further, the lack of vapour pressure and immiscibility with water makes them attractive as environmentally friendly recyclable solvents. This project aims to understand why some reactions are particularly efficient in these solvents. Studies into the following are in progress: Bridgehead Substitution Reactions (in collaboration with Dr. Craig M. Williams, University of Queensland) Recently developed methodology involves the substitution of bridgehead halides with novel organometallic reagents, to give access to previous difficult to synthesise bridgehead derivatives. The mechanism of this reaction is currently ill-defined, and the project aims to investigate whether it proceeds through intermediates that are either radical, cationic or both in nature. Having elucidated the mechanism of reaction, it is anticipated that this knowledge will be used to find the most effective conditions for the process and then applied to the development of materials suitable for use in nanodevices. Mechanism of Indole Cyclisations (in collaboration with Prof. David St.C. Black, UNSW) Indoles and related heterocycles represent an important class of bioactive compounds. As a result, there is much interest in synthetic methodology related to these types of molecules. We are interested in understanding the mechanism of cyclisation processes that have been observed, which are formally substitutions on sp2 hybridised nitrogens. PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
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