School of Chemistry, UNSW

Roger Wayne Read

B.Sc. Ph.D. Syd, DIC, London, FRACI
Associate Professor
E-mail: R.Read@unsw.edu.au
Research group web site: http://www.chem.unsw.edu.au/research/groups/read.html

BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

Temporary Lecturer, Imperial College, London 1977-1978. Univ of Auckland Postdoctoral Fellow 1979. Senior Tutor, Univ of Melbourne 1980-1982. Research Scientist, Materials Research Laboratories 1982-1984. Appointed Lecturer UNSW in 1985, promoted to Senior Lecturer 1987 and Associate Professor 1998. Visiting Scientist, Philipps Universität Marburg, 1988; Visiting Research Associate, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, 1993; Visiting Professor, University of Pittsburgh, 1998.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Energetic materials (explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics) research, including nitroaromatics and nitramine precursors. Heterocyclic chemistry, particularly the chemistry of highly reduced polynitrogen heterocycles and axially symmetrical compounds. Natural products chemistry: isolation (with regional scientists), structural characterisation and synthesis of natural products; current syntheses target alkaloid, furanoid and spirodienone compounds. Structural chemistry and stereochemical aspects of organic reactions. Specific projects include:

Synthesis and chemistry of perhydrobipyrimidine and bisisoquinoline heterocycles
Synthesis of diagnostic agents for early onset dementia (muscarinic ligands)
Synthesis of indoles
Cycloaddition reactions of nitroalkenes as a route to natural products
Synthesis and chemistry of furanoid natural products
Structure elucidation of natural products

For more details of these projects, see the Read Group web page.

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS

Consultant for the Network for the Chemistry of Biologically Important Natural Products with special interest in Indonesia. Honorary Secretary of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute NSW Branch 1991-1998, and committee member of its Organic Chemistry and Natural Products groups. Honorary Secretary and President-Elect of the RACI Organic Chemistry Division 1998. Council member of the UNSW Chemical Society. Member of the American Chemical Society and International Society of Heterocyclic Chemistry. Appointed Justice of the Peace for New South Wales in 1973.

Conference Organising Secretary for the 2005 Southern Highlands Conference on Heterocyclic Chemistry.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Kassiou, M., and Read, R.W., (1994) Synthesis and Stereochemical Assignment of 2,5-trans-2',5'-trans-5,5'-Dimethylperhydro-2,2'-bipyrimidine and Heterocycles Derived from Its Condensation with Formaldehyde, Tetrahedron, 50, 2497-2506.
Affandi, H., Bayquen, A.V., and Read, R.W., (1994) Direct Conversion of Carboxylic Acids into Carbamoyl Azides, Tetrahedron Lett., 35, 2729-2732.
Guerrero, P., Read, R.W., Batley, M., and Janario, G.C., (1995) The Structure of a Novel Cembranoid Diterpene from the Philippine Soft Coral Sinularia flexibilis, J. Nat. Prod., 58, 1185-1188.
Banwell, M.G., Bissett, B.D., Busato, S., Cowden, C.J., Hockless, D.C.R., Holman, J.W., Read, R.W., and Wu, A.W., (1995) Triflic Anhydride/4-(N,N-Dimethylamino)pyridine as a Reagent Combination for Effecting Bischler-Napieralski Cyclisation Under Mild Conditions: Application to Total Syntheses of the Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids N-Methylcrinasiadine, Anhydrolycorinone, Hippadine and Oxoassoanine, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 2551-2553.
O'Leary, T.K., and Read, R.W., (1996) Nitrogen Heterocycles From Sugar Derived Polyamines, Aust. J. Chem., 48, 285-291.
Bayquen, A.V., Read, R.W., (1996) Total Synthesis of Micropine and Epimicropine, Tetrahedron, 52, 13467-13482.
Ahmad, F., Bakar, S.A., Ibrahim, A.Z., and Read, R.W., (1997) Constituents of the Leaves of Piper caninum, Planta Med., 63, 193-194.
Kassiou, M., Read, R.W., Shi, X.-Q., (1997) Synthesis and Evaluation of Halogenated Dibenzodiazepines as Muscarinic Receptor Ligands, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., 7, 799-804.
Manny, A.J., Kjelleberg, S., Kumar, N., De Nys, R., Read, R.W., Steinberg, P., (1997) Reinvestigation of the Sulfuric Acid-Catalysed Cyclisation of Brominated 2-Alkyllevulinic Acids to 3-Alkyl-5-methylene 2(5H)-furanones, Tetrahedron, 53, 15813-15826.

Reviews