Research Interests

Synthetic and physical chemistry of late transition metal complexes, particularly in connection with their use in small molecule activation and catalysis. This research encompasses elucidating the fundamental structure, bonding and reactivity of transition metal complexes, mechanistic investigations and subsequent catalyst development. The particular focus of current research concerns the use of supramolecular ligand architectures for:

• The stabilisation and isolation of transition metal complexes with a low coordination number.
• Studying unstable organometallic species.
• The transition metal mediated activation and functionalisation of alkanes.
• Homogeneous transition metal catalysis.

PhD studentship available: Supramolecular approaches to the transition metal mediated activation of alkanes [advert]. Enquires welcome, please include a CV.

Past Research Highlights

• The development and mechanistic investigation of bench–stable rhodium(I) catalysts, containing the small–bite angle diphosphine ligands for the efficient intermolecular hydroacylation of a wide variety of un-activated alkenes and alkynes with β-S-substituted aldehydes (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, Oxford with A. S. Weller and M. C. Willis).

• The activation of C–C and C–H bonds using low coordinate rhodium phosphine complexes [Oxford, with A. S. Weller]. Examples include: the isolation of agostic intermediates in alkyl dehydrogenation (Chem. Commun. 2009), reversible C–C bond activation (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011) and C–C bond activation of biphenylene (Organometallics 2010).

• Insights into the mechanism of rhodium catalyzed dehydrocoupling of amine–boranes [Oxford, with A. S. Weller]. In particular the characterisation of B–H activation products (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010) and amine–borane sigma complexes (Inorg. Chem. 2010).

• The development and mechanism of robust (Inorg. Chem. 2008) and chemoselective (Organometallics 2007) ruthenium hydrogenation catalysts [EPFL, with P. J. Dyson].