Past group members

Past academic visitors

Mansour Lakouraj

Enxue Shi

Past postdoctoral researchers

Dr Ashlie Butler

Dr Ed Cochrane

Publications:

Direct arterial injection of hyperpolarized 13C-labeled substrates into rat tumors for rapid MR detection of metabolism with minimal substrate dilution, S. Reynolds, S. Metcalf, E. J. Cochrane, R. C. Collins, S. Jones, M. N. J. Paley. and G. M. Tozer, Magn. Reson. Med., 2017, doi: 10.1002/mrm.26628

Dr Dan Cox

Dan received his first degree from the University of Oxford in 2007, completing his masters project under the supervision of Professor George Fleet on the synthesis of novel iminosugars. Dan remained at Oxford for his DPhil., working on new methodologies in stereocontrolled glycosylation reactions under the supervision of Dr Antony Fairbanks.

Following the completion of his DPhil. in 2011, Dan joined Professor Jason Chin’s research group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, developing new methodologies in the field of bioorthogonal chemistry. In 2014 Dan moved to the University of Sheffield to take up a PDRA position, working jointly between the research groups of Professor Simon Jones and Professor Simon Foster. In 2017, Dan moved down the corridor (!) to work for Redbrick Molecular.

Degree(s): MChem (Oxford), DPhil (Oxford)

Project: Bacterial cell wall chemistry

Publications:

  • Protecting Group Dependence of Stereochemical Outcome of Glycosylation of 2-O-(Thiophen-2-yl)methyl Ether Protected Glycosyl Donors, A. J. Watson, S. R. Alexander, D. J. Cox, A. J. Fairbanks, Eur. J. Org. Chem., 2016, 8, 1520-1532.

  • Neighbouring Group Participation During Glycosylation: Do 2-Substituted Ethyl Ethers Participate? D. J. Cox, G. P. Singh, A. J. Watson, A. J. Fairbanks, Eur. J. Org. Chem., 2014, 4624-4642.

  • Optimized orthogonal translation system of unnatural amino acids enables spontaneous protein double-labelling and FRET, K. Wang, A. Sachdeva, D. J. Cox, N. W. Wilf, S. Wallace, R. A. Mehl, J. W. Chin, Nature Chem., 2014, 6, 393-403.

  • Genetic Encoding of Bicyclononynes and trans-Cyclooctenes for Site- Specific Protein Labeling in Vitro and in Live Mammalian Cells via Rapid Fluorogenic Diels−Alder Reactions, K. Lang, L. Davis, S. Wallace, M. Mehesh, D. J. Cox, M. L. Blackman, J. M. Fox, J. W. Chin, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 10317-10320.

  • On the Hydrogenation of Glycosyl Oxazolines, D. J. Cox, T. B. Parsons, A. J. Fairbanks, Synlett, 2010, 1315-1318.

  • Glycosylation Catalyzed by a Chiral Brønsted Acid, D. J. Cox, M. D. Smith, A. J. Fairbanks, Org. Lett., 2010, 1452-1455.

  • Stereoselective Synthesis of a-glucosides by Neighbouring Group Participation via an Intermediate Thiophenium Ion, D. J. Cox, A. J. Fairbanks, Tet. Asymm., 2009, 773-780.

  • 2,5-Anhydro-N-benzyl-2-C-methyl-D-arabinonamide [(2S,3R,4R)-N-benzyl-3,4-dihydroxy-2-methyltetrahydrofuran-2-carboxamide], D. J. Cox, A. E. Håkansson, G. W. J. Fleet, D. J. Watkin, Acta Cryst., 2007, E63, 574-576.

Dr Keith McMillan

Keith gained his BSc at Edinburgh, followed by a PhD with Dr Michael Paton on the synthesis of C-glycosides. He spent a brief period working for Evotec, and started his EPSRC funded postdoctoral position in Sheffield in March 2006, finishing at the end of January 2009. He is currently working with GE Healthcare.

Degree(s): MChem Chemistry (Edinburgh), PhD Chemistry (Edinburgh)

Project: N-Phosphoryl oxazolidinones

Publications:

Asymmetric Control in Diels-Alder Cycloadditions of Chiral 9-Aminoanthracenes by Relay of Stereochemical Information, H. Adams, R. A. Bawa, S. Jones and K. G. McMillan, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2007, 18, 1003-1012.

Dr Marco Meloni

Marco joined the group in September 2010. He obtained his PhD from the University of Southampton, and has worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Professors Stephen Faulkner, David Procter, Sabine Flitch, and Dr Tim Wallace.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Sassari), PhD Chemistry (Southampton)

Project: New imaging agents

Dr Andrew Reeder

Andrew received his first degree from the University of Sheffield in 2005 acquiring an interest in synthetic organic chemistry along the way. After a year long hiatus working in the banking sector, he re-joined the fray and moved to the University of York to conduct his PhD studies under the supervision of Dr P A Clarke on the synthesis of a novel class of sesquiterpenes.

After the completing his PhD, he worked for a short period as an R&D chemist for Frutarom UK (flavours and fragrances) before taking up his current post as a PDRA in the group of Professor S Jones.

Degree(s): MChem Chemistry (University of Sheffield), PhD Chemistry (York)

Project: Organophosphorus chemistry

Publications:

  • Mechanistic investigations of the asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketimines with trichlorosilane reveals a dual activation model and an organocatalyst with enhanced efficiency, X. Li, A. T. Reeder, F. Torri, H. Adams and S. Jones, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2017, 15, 2422-2435.

  • P-Chiral phosphine oxide catalysed reduction of prochiral ketimines using trichlorosilane, C. J. A. Warner, A. T. Reeder and S. Jones, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2016, 27, 136–141.

  • Diels-Alder Reactions and Transformations of 2-Cyclopenten-1-one with a Chiral Anthracene Template, H. Adams, S. Jones, A. J. H. M. Meijer, Z. Najah, I. Ojea-Jiménez and A. T. Reeder, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2011, 22, 1620-1625.

Dr Claire Rye

Claire started in the group in February 2013 after a postdoctoral position in Manchester with Jim Thomas.

Dr Federica Torri

Federica graduated in 2011 from the Faculty of Pharmacy in Pisa with her MSc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology. Here she also carried out her masters project, under the supervision of Professor Mauro Pineschi, centred around metal-catalyzed (Pd, Fe, B, Ni) and organo-catalyzed ring-opening reactions (SN2’) of small heterocyclic systems.

She then undertook her PhD (2012–2016) under the supervision of Professor Mauro F A Adamo in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), working on the stereoselective synthesis of enantiopure abasic C-nucleosides and 4-nitro-isoxazoles. In September 2016 Federica joined the research group of Professor Simon Jones as a PDRA.

Degree(s): MSc Pharmaceutical Chemistry (Pisa, Italy), PhD (Dublin, Ireland)

Project: Asymmetric reduction of N-aryl and N-alkyl imines with trichlorosilane

Publications:

Mechanistic investigations of the asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketimines with trichlorosilane reveals a dual activation model and an organocatalyst with enhanced efficiency, X. Li, A. T. Reeder, F. Torri, H. Adams and S. Jones, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2017, 15, 2422-2435.

Development and Scale-up of an Organocatalytic Enantioselective Process to Manufacture (S)-Pregabalin, M. Moccia, M. Cortigiani, C. Monasterolo, F. Torri, C. Del Fiandra, G. Fuller, B. Kelly and M. F. A. Adamo, Org. Process Res. Dev., 2015, 19, 1274-1281.

Dr Ian Wilson

Ian arrived to take up an EPSRC postdoctoral fellowship after spending some time at Durham with Graham Sandford. He is now working for Almac.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Hull), PhD Chemistry (Newcastle)

Project: Chiral nucleophilic supramolecular catalysts

Publications:

Synthesis of Substituted 3-Furan-2(5H)-ones via an Anthracene Diels-Alder Sequence,

S. Jones and I. Wilson, Tetrahedron Lett., 2006, 47, 4377-4380.

Past postgraduate researchers

Chris Atherton

Chris started his PhD in September 1999 and was the first to complete his PhD in the Jones group. He currently works for Onyx Scientific.

Degree(s): MChem Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry (Newcastle), PhD Chemistry (Newcastle)

Project: Novel photoactivated chiral auxiliaries

Publications:

  • Diels-Alder Reactions of Anthracene, 9-Substituted Anthracenes and 9,10-Disubstituted Anthracenes, J. C. C. Atherton and S. Jones, Tetrahedron, 2003, 59, 9039-9057.

  • Establishing Cleavage Conditions for an Anthracene Chiral Auxiliary using a Photochemical Retro Diels-Alder Reaction, J. C. C. Atherton and S. Jones, Tetrahedron Lett.,2002, 43, 9097-9100.

  • Mechanistic Investigations in Diastereoselective Diels-Alder Additions of Chiral 9-Anthranylethanol Derivatives, J. C. C. Atherton and S. Jones, J. C. S., Perkin Trans. 1, 2002, 2166-2173.

  • Diastereomeric Control of Photoinduced Diels-Alder Reactions of 1-Anthracen-9-yl-ethanol by Hydrogen Bonding Effects, J. C. C. Atherton and S. Jones, Tetrahedron Lett., 2001, 42, 8239-8241.

  • An Improved Procedure for the Preparation of 9,10-Dibromoanthracene, S. Jones and J. C. C. Atherton, Synth. Commun., 2001, 31, 1799-1802.

  • Highly Diastereoselective Photochemical Diels-Alder Reactions: Towards the Development of a Photoactivated Chiral Auxiliary, S. Jones and J. C. C. Atherton, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2001, 12, 1117-1119.

  • Asymmetric Reduction Using N-Methyl and N-Benzyl Oxazaborolidines Based Upon cis 1-Amino-2-Indanol: A Preliminary Mechanistic Study, S. Jones and J. C. C. Atherton, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2000, 11, 4543-4548.

  • 9,10-Diacetylanthracene: A Centrosymmetric Transoid Molecule, S. Jones, J. C. C. Atherton, M. R. J. Elsegood and W. Clegg, Acta Cryst. C, 2000, 881-883.

Jenny Ball

Jennifer worked for a year in Pfizer during her degree then did her MChem project in the group here in Sheffield. She started her PhD studies in 2007 and finished in 2011. She is currently working with Sygnature.

Degree: MChem Chemistry with study in industry

Project: Anthracene auxiliaries

Publications:

Synthesis of quaternary stereogenic centres via stereoselective intermolecular Friedel-Crafts reactions, J. C. Ball, R. Gleave and S. Jones, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2011, 9, 4353-4360.

A Tandem Asymmetric Synthesis Approach for the Efficient Preparation of Enantiomerically Pure 9-(Hydroxyethyl) Anthracene, J. C. Ball, P. Brennan, T. M. Elsunaki, A. Jaunet and S. Jones, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2011, 22, 253-255.

Ramadan Bawa

Ramadan gained his undergraduate and masters qualifications in Libya, before taking up a PhD position in Newcastle in September 2001. He transferred to Sheffield with the rest of the group in June 2003, completed his PhD. in June 2005 and then took up a postdoctoral position with Professor Alicia Beatty at Mississippi State University in September 2005. He returned to Libya to take up a teaching position there.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Sebha), MSc Chemistry (Nasser), PhD Chemistry (University of Sheffield)

Project: Electron rich and electron deficient chiral anthracene derivatives

Publications:

  • Evaluating hydrogen bonding control in the diastereoselective Diels–Alder reactions of 9-(2-aminoethyl)-anthracene derivatives, R. A. Bawa, F.-M. Gautier, H. Adams, A. J. H. M. Meijer and S. Jones, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2015, 13, 10569-10577.

  • Asymmetric Control in Diels-Alder Cycloadditions of Chiral 9-Aminoanthracenes by Relay of Stereochemical Information, H. Adams, R. A. Bawa, S. Jones and K. G. McMillan, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2007, 18, 1003-1012.

  • N-Alkyl Oxazolidines as Stereocontrol Elements in Asymmetric Diels-Alder Cycloadditions

  • of 9-Substituted Anthracene Derivatives, H. Adams, R. A. Bawa and S. Jones, Org. Biol. Chem., 2006, 4, 4206-4213.

  • Synthesis and Diels-Alder Reactions of 9-(4-Benzyl Oxazolinyl)-Anthracene, R. A. Bawa and S. Jones, Tetrahedron, 2004, 60, 2765-2770.

Ryan Burgin

Ryan did his first degree in Sheffield’s other university and joined the group in September 2006. He worked on a project supported by Seal Sands Chemicals, and then went onto a postdoctoral researcher for Professor Mike Doyle at the University of Maryland. He returned to the UK to work for Manchester Organics.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Sheffield Hallam University), PhD (University of Sheffield)

Project: New routes to quinoline heterocycles

Publications:

Scope and Limitations of the Minisci Reaction for the Synthesis of Azaheterocycles, R. N. Burgin, S. Jones and B. Tarbit, Tetrahedron Lett., 2009, 50, 6772-6774.

Dr Rebecca Collins

Rebecca (Becca) spent the third year of her undergraduate degree at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, then did her final year MChem project working in Dr Jones’ group. She secured a prestigious A*STAR scholarship for her PhD studies with Professor Jones, jointly supervised by Professor Martyn Paley and Professor Gillian Tozer.

Degree: MChem Chemistry with study in America

Project: Synthesis and imaging of vascular disrupting agents

Publications:

  • Direct arterial injection of hyperpolarized 13C-labeled substrates into rat tumors for rapid MR detection of metabolism with minimal substrate dilution, S. Reynolds, S. Metcalf, E. J. Cochrane, R. C. Collins, S. Jones, M. N. J. Paley. and G. M. Tozer, Magn. Reson. Med., 2017, doi:10.1002/mrm.26628

  • Synthesis of [3-13C]-2,3-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde, R. C. Collins, M. N. Paley, G. M. Tozer and S. Jones, Tetrahedron Letters, 2016, 57, 563–565.

  • Enantioselective Preparation of P-Chiral Phosphine Oxides, H. Adams, R. C. Collins, S. Jones, and C. J. A. Warner, Org. Lett., 2011, 13, 6576–6579.

Sam Crook

Sam obtained a first class degree from Sheffield and stayed on to carry out a PhD, finishing in 2009. He worked on the use of N-phosphoryl oxazolidinones in asymmetric transformations, sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, and now works for Peakdale Molecular Ltd.

Degree: MChem Chemistry (University of Sheffield)

Project: N-Phosphoryl oxazolidinones

Publications:

Examining the origin of selectivity in the reaction of racemic alcohols with chiral N-phosphoryl oxazolidinones, S. Crook, N. J. Parr, J. Simmons and S. Jones, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2014, 25 1298-1308.

Rachel Dixon

Rachel carried out an MPhil under the joint supervision of Julian Knight and Simon Doherty at Newcastle, before staying on to pursue a PhD. She completed her PhD and moved to the States to take up a postdoctoral position with Professor Dennis Curran in Pittsburgh. After one year she took up another research position, again in the USA, this time at the Cancer Research Institute, Arizona State University working with Professor George Pettit before moving on to work with Pfizer. She spent several years at Pfizer, then moved to New Zealand to work for IRL.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Leeds), MPhil (Newcastle), PhD (Chemistry) Newcastle

Project: Asymmetric reduction of meso-Imides and Lactams

Publications:

  • Kinetic Resolution of Racemic Pyrrolidine-2,5-diones Using Chiral Oxazaborolidine Catalysts, M. D. Barker, R. A. Dixon, S. Jones and B. J. Marsh, Chem. Commun., 2008, 2218-2220.

  • The Crucial Role of the Nitrogen Substituent in the Desymmetrisation of Cyclic meso-Imides Using B-Me and B-OMe Oxazaborolidine Catalysts, M. D. Barker, R. A. Dixon, S. Jones and B. Marsh, Tetrahedron, 2006, 62, 11663-11669.

  • Efficient Desymmetrisation of a meso-Imide Using a Chiral Oxazaborolidine Catalyst, R. A. Dixon and S. Jones, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2002, 13, 1115-1119.

Tareg Elsunaki

Tareg gained his BSc and MSc in Chemistry from Nasser University in Libya, before moving to Sheffield to start his PhD studies. He completed his PhD in 2010 and returned to Libya to take up an academic position there.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Nasser), MSc Chemistry (Nasser)

Project: Anthracene auxiliaries

Publications:

A Tandem Asymmetric Synthesis Approach for the Efficient Preparation of Enantiomerically Pure 9-(Hydroxyethyl) Anthracene, J. C. Ball, P. Brennan, T. M. Elsunaki, A. Jaunet and S. Jones, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2011, 22, 253-255.

Diastereoselective Cycloadditions and Transformations of N-Alkyl and N-Aryl Maleimides with Chiral 9-Anthrylethanol Derivatives, H. Adams, T. M. Elsunaki, I. Ojea-Jiménez, S. Jones, A. J. M. Meijer, J. Org. Chem., 2010, 73, 6252-6262.

Simon England

Simon spent a year in industry during his undergraduate studies in Sheffield, then got accepted onto a PhD funded through the White Rose Doctoral Training Centre to study the antimicrobial effects of fatty acids.

Degree: MChem Chemistry with study in industry

Project: Synthesis of fatty acids

Publications:

Analysis of the Bactericidal Activity of the Human Skin Fatty Acid, cis-6-Hexadecanoic Acid on Staphylococcus aureus, M. Cartron, S. England, A. Chiriac, M. Josten, R. Turner, Y. Rauter, A. Hurd, H.-G. Sahl, S. Jones and S. Foster, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2014, 58, 3599-3609.

Francois Gautier

Francois joined the group in September 2004, after completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, doing a final year project on reactions of manganese amides. His research project examined new ways to prepare chiral amines and was sponsored by Aesica. He spent some time in a postdoctoral position in the Laboratoire des Glucides, Université de Picardie, France, and is now working for Tocris Bioscience.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (University of Cergy-Pontoise), DEA Development in Fine Chemistry (University of Cergy-Pontoise), PhD (University of Sheffield)

Project: Asymmetric synthesis of amines through reduction of imine derivatives

Publications:

  • Evaluating hydrogen bonding control in the diastereoselective Diels–Alder reactions of 9-(2-aminoethyl)-anthracene derivatives, R. A. Bawa, F.-M. Gautier, H. Adams, A. J. H. M. Meijer and S. Jones, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2015, 13, 10569-10577.

  • Scope of the organocatalysed asymmetric reductive amination of ketones with trichlorosilane, F.-M. Gautier, S. Jones, X. Li and S. J. Martin, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2011, 9, 7860-7868.

  • Asymmetric Reduction of Ketimines with Trichlorosilane Employing an Imidazole Derived Organocatalyst, F.-M. Gautier, S. Jones and S. J. Martin, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2009, 6, 229-231.

  • 1-(Azolylcarbonyl)-2-(hydroxymethyl)pyrrolidine derivatives for use as catalysts for asymmetric reduction of imines & reductive amination of ketones, F.-M. Gautier and S. Jones, 2009, GB2451629 (A).

Nathan Gilmore

Nathan started his PhD in September 2002 at Newcastle and transferred to Sheffield in June 2003 with the rest of the group to work on oxazaborolidine catalysts sponsored by Rhodia-Pharma Solutions. Nathan completed his studies in January 2007.

Degree(s): MChem Chemistry (Newcastle), PhD (University of Sheffield)

Project: Mechanism of oxazaborolidine reductions

Publications:

  • Asymmetric Synthesis of Corsifuran A by an Enantioselective Oxazaborolidine Reduction, H. Adams, N. J. Gilmore, S. Jones, M. P. Muldowney, S. H. von Reuß and R. Vemula, Org. Lett., 2008, 10, 1457-1460.

  • Synthetic applicability and in-situ recycling of a B-methoxy oxazaborolidine catalyst derived from cis-1-amino-indan-2-ol, N. J. Gilmore, S. Jones and M. P. Muldowney, Org. Lett., 2004, 6, 2805-2808.

  • Evaluating the Role of Solvent and Borane on the Enantioselectivity of the Oxazaborolidine reduction of Prochiral Ketones Using Catalysts Derived from cis-(1R,2S)-1-amino-indan-2-ol, N. J. Gilmore and S. Jones, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2003, 14, 2115-2118.

Aishah Hasbullah

Aishah worked as a lecturer in the National University of Malaysia before joining the group in May 2007. She completed her PhD in 2011 and returned to her position in UKM in Malaysia.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry, MSc Chemistry

Project: Anthracene auxiliaries

Publications:

Evaluating the use of chiral anthracene templates to access pyroglutamic acids, S. A. Hasbullah and S. Jones, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2010, 21, 2719–2725.

Alex Jaunet

Alex joined the group in September 2005 and worked on a project supported by Pfizer. He worked briefly as a postdoctoral researcher at Laboratoire de Chimie Organique Synthétique, Strasbourg, followed by a similar position with Professor Scott Denmark.

Degree(s): DEA Pharmacology-Pharmacochemistry (University of Nantes), BSc Chemistry (Nantes)

Project: Synthesis of cyclohexane monoepoxides

Publications:

A Tandem Asymmetric Synthesis Approach for the Efficient Preparation of Enantiomerically Pure 9-(Hydroxyethyl) Anthracene, J. C. Ball, P. Brennan, T. M. Elsunaki, A. Jaunet and S. Jones, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2011, 22, 253-255.

Ibrahim Kutama

Ibrahim was born in Bichi town, which is a few kilometres from the capital city of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. He grew up and was educated in Kano city, which is the second largest city and commercial centre in Nigeria. He speaks Hausa as his mother-tongue and English. He follows the Islamic faith, is married with three children and likes jogging and watching football. He joined the group in the middle of the snows of November 2010 and developed methods for the catalytic enantioselective synthesis of piperidines.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry, 1988 Bayero University Kano, Nigeria, MSc Organic Chemistry, 1997

Project: Imide desymmetrisation

Publications:

Enantioselective Desymmetrization of Glutarimides Catalyzed by Oxazaborolidines Derived from cis-1-Amino-indan-2-ol, I. U. Kutama and S. Jones, J. Org. Chem., 2015, 80, 11468–11479.

Enantioselective catalytic desymmetrization of maleimides by temporary removal of an internal mirror plane and stereoablative over-reduction: Synthesis of (R)-pyrrolam A, B. J. Marsh, M. D. Barker, I. U. Kutama and S. Jones, Org. Lett., 2014, 16, 3780–3783.

Lore Lambein

Lore is a joint PhD student working between the Jones group and that of Professor Steve Renshaw as part of the University’s Infectious Diseases Network.

Degree(s): BSc Biological Sciences (Université Catholique de Louvain), MSc Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology (Université Catholique de Louvain)

Project: New treatments for Staphylocccus aureus

Xianfu Li

Publications:

  • Mechanistic investigations of the asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketimines with trichlorosilane reveals a dual activation model and an organocatalyst with enhanced efficiency, X. Li, A. T. Reeder, F. Torri, H. Adams and S. Jones, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2017, 15, 2422-2435.

  • Synthesis of chiral b-amino acid derivatives by asymmetric hydrosilylation with an imidazole derived organocatalyst, S. Jones and X. Li, Tetrahedron, 2012, 68, 5522-5532.

  • Scope of the organocatalysed asymmetric reductive amination of ketones with trichlorosilane, F.-M. Gautier, S. Jones, X. Li and S. J. Martin, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2011, 9, 7860-7868.

Barry Marsh

Barrie did his first degree at the University of Sheffield, spending a year out during his studies at the University of Buffalo in the USA. He was the first Sheffield graduate to join the group in September 2004 on a project sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline. He carried out a postdoctoral position working with Dr David Carbery in Bath and is now working for Tocris-Cookson Ltd.

Degree(s): MChem Chemistry with study in North America (University of Sheffield), PhD (University of Sheffield)

Project: Kinetic resolution and desymmetrisation of imides

Publications:

  • Enantioselective catalytic desymmetrization of maleimides by temporary removal of an internal mirror plane and stereoablative over-reduction: Synthesis of (R)-pyrrolam A, B. J. Marsh, M. D. Barker, I. U. Kutama and S. Jones, Org. Lett., 2014, 16, 3780–3783.

  • Kinetic Resolution of Racemic Pyrrolidine-2,5-diones Using Chiral Oxazaborolidine Catalysts, M. D. Barker, R. A. Dixon, S. Jones and B. J. Marsh, Chem. Commun., 2008, 2218-2220.

  • The Crucial Role of the Nitrogen Substituent in the Desymmetrisation of Cyclic meso-Imides Using B-Me and B-OMe Oxazaborolidine Catalysts, M. D. Barker, R. A. Dixon, S. Jones and B. Marsh, Tetrahedron, 2006, 62, 11663-11669.

Danny Mortimer

Publications:

Synthesis of an azabicyclic framework towards (±)-actinophyllic acid, D. Mortimer, M. Whiting, J. P. A. Harrity, S. Jones and I. Coldham, Tetrahedron Lett., 2014, 55, 1255-1257.

Zaid Najah

Zaid joined the group in February 2007, after obtaining his BSc from Misurata and his Masters of Science from the University of Garyounis. He obtained his PhD in 2011.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Misurata), MSc Chemistry (Garyounis)

Project: Anthracene auxiliaries

Publications:

Diels-Alder Reactions and Transformations of 2-Cyclopenten-1-one with a Chiral Anthracene Template, H. Adams, S. Jones, A. J. H. M. Meijer, Z. Najah, I. Ojea-Jiménez and A. T. Reeder, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2011, 22, 1620-1625.

Helen Norton

Helen stayed on at Newcastle to carry out a PhD after completing her final year research project in the Jones group. She transferred to Sheffield in June 2003 and completed her PhD in February 2006. She is currently working as a teacher in Brinsworth Comprehensive School, Rotherham.

Degree(s): MChem Chemistry (Newcastle), PhD Chemistry (University of Sheffield)

Project: Chiral oxazolinoyl imidazoles

Publications:

Ring Opening Reactions of N-Alkyl Oxazolidinones with Organolithium Reagents, S. Jones and H. C. Norton, Synlett, 2004, 338-341.

Isaac Ojea-Jimenez

Isaac traveled from Spain to start his PhD studies at Newcastle in September 2001. He moved slightly closer to home when he transferred to Sheffield in June 2003. He completed his PhD in 2005, then worked in a postdoctoral position in Roche Diagnostics (Penzberg, Germany). He then moved to Endor Nanotechnologies in Barcelona in Spain, and is currently working in the group of Dr Victor Puntes at the Institut Català de Nanotecnologia.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Rovira i Virgili), PhD Chemistry (University of Sheffield)

Project: Asymmetric transformation of chiral anthracene derivatives

Publications:

  • Diels-Alder Reactions and Transformations of 2-Cyclopenten-1-one with a Chiral Anthracene Template, H. Adams, S. Jones, A. J. H. M. Meijer, Z. Najah, I. Ojea-Jiménez and A. T. Reeder, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2011, 22, 1620-1625.

  • Diastereoselective Cycloadditions and Transformations of N-Alkyl and N-Aryl Maleimides with Chiral Derivatives, H. Adams, T. M. Elsunaki, I. Ojea-Jiménez, S. Jones, A. J. M. Meijer, J. Org. Chem., 2010, 73, 6252-6262.

  • Highly Diastereoselective Diels-Alder Cycloadditions of 9R-(1-Methoxyethyl)anthracene with p-Benzoquinone, H. Adams, S. Jones, and I. Ojea-Jiménez, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2006, 4, 2296-2303.

  • Diastereoselective Diels-Alder Reactions Of Polyether Based Chiral 9-Substituted Anthracenes, I. Ojea-Jimenez and S. Jones, Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds, 2005, 25, 1-12.

  • The Diels-Alder Adduct of p-benzoquinone and anthracene: 9,10-tetrahydro-9,10[1′,2′]-benzenoanthracene-1′,4′(2′H,3′H)-dione, H. Adams, I. Ojea-Jimenez and S. Jones, Acta Cryst. E., 2004, E60, o690-o691.

Alan Rolfe

Alan is a true Northerner – a native of Sunderland. He started his PhD in September 2002 at Newcastle before transferring to Sheffield with the rest of the group. Coincidentally, he was sponsored by a Sunderland company, Onyx-Scientific Ltd. Alan spent several years in a postdoctoral position with Professor Paul Hanson at the University of Kansas and is now working as a Senior Scientist at H3 Biomedicine.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Newcastle), PhD (University of Sheffield)

Project: New chiral supramolecular nucleophilic catalysts

Publications:

Catalytic Phosphorylation Using a Bifunctional Imidazole Derived Nucleophilic Catalyst, S. Jones, J. Northen and A. Rolfe, Chem. Comm., 2005, 3832-3834.

Catena-Poly[[[tetrakis(dimethylformamide-kO)-magnesium(II)]-m-diphenylphosphato-k2O:O’] trifluoromethanesulfonate], H. Adams, A. Rolfe and S. Jones, Acta Cryst. E., 2005, E61, m1251-m1252.

Dimitrios Selitsianos

Dimitri started his PhD in September 1999 at Newcastle after graduating from across the road at Northumbria. He was the first person to obtain preliminary data for our asymmetric phosphoryl transfer protocols. He returned to Greece to carry out his national service.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Northumbria), PhD Chemistry (Newcastle)

Project: Approaches towards asymmetric phosphoryl transfer

Publications:

  • Stereochemical Consequences of the Use Chiral N-Phosphoryl Oxazolidinones in The Attempted Kinetic Resolution of Magnesium Bromoalkoxides, S. Jones and D. Selitsianos, Tetrahedron: Asymm., 2005, 16, 3128-3138.

  • An Improved Method for Lewis Acid Catalysed Phosphoryl Transfer Using Ti(t-BuO)4, S. Jones, D. Selitsianos, K. J. Thompson and S. M. Toms, J. Org. Chem., 2003, 68, 5211-5216.

  • A Simple and Effective Method for Phosphoryl Transfer Using TiCl4 Catalysis, S. Jones and D. Selitsianos, Org. Lett., 2002, 4, 3671-3673.

Chaiwat Smanmoo

Gal is the most recent international student to join the group all the way from Thailand. He started his PhD in Newcastle in November 2002 and transferred to Sheffield with the rest of the group in June 2003 on a project supported by a Royal Thai Scholarship. He completed his PhD in 2006 and is now working as a postdoctoral researcher for Professor Masaaki Kai in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Wollongong), MSc (Wollongong), PhD (University of Sheffield)

Project: N-phosphoryl oxazolidinones

Publications:

Phosphorylation of Alcohols with N-Phosphoryl Oxazolidinones Employing Copper (II) Triflate Catalysis, S. Jones and C. Smanmoo, Org. Lett., 2005, 7, 3271-3274.

N-Phosphoryl Oxazolidinones as Effective Phosphorylating Agents, S. Jones and C. Smanmoo, Tetrahedron Lett., 2004, 45, 1585-1588.

Steven Toms

Steve arrived in Newcastle to start his PhD only a few days after returning from South America. Despite several leg injuries, he finished off his PhD at Newcastle before taking up a postdoctoral position with Professor George Pettit in Arizona, then as a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Steve Davies at the University of Oxford. He is now working for IRL in New Zealand.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry with Pharmaceutical and Forensic Science (Bradford), PhD Chemistry (Newcastle)

Project: Studies towards the total synthesis of the potent antibiotic, sarcophytolide

Publications:

An Improved Method for Lewis Acid Catalysed Phosphoryl Transfer Using Ti(t-BuO)4, S. Jones, D. Selitsianos, K. J. Thompson and S. M. Toms, J. Org. Chem., 2003, 68, 5211-5216.

Damien Valette

Damien spent time at the University of Ottawa and in Sanofi-Aventis during his undergraduate studies and joined the group in September 2007. He completed his PhD in 2011 and is now in a postdoctoral position with Professor Huw Davies.

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry, University of Toulouse II-Paul Sabatier, MSc Chemistry, Universite Claude Bernard-Lyon 1

Project: Asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions

Publications:

Enantioselective Synthesis of Allylic Alcohols via an Oxazaborolidinium Ion Catalyzed Diels-Alder/Retro-Diels-Alder Sequence, S. Jones and D. Valette, Org. Lett., 2009, 11, 5358-5361.

Ramesh Vemula

Ramesh joined the group in September 2004, being awarded a prestigious Dorothy Hodgkin scholarship. He was awarded his thesis in 2008, worked for a short period of time at Reckitt Benckiser, then returned to the group for a joint postdoctoral position with Professor Joe Harrity, supported through Farapack Polymers. He is now working as a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Nick H Werstiuk at McMaster University in Canada.

Degree(s): BSc Microbiology, Chemistry and Botany (Kakatiya), MSc Organic Chemistry (Kakatiya), PhD (University of Sheffield)

Project: Total synthesis of sarcophytolide

Publications:

Asymmetric Synthesis of Corsifuran A by an Enantioselective Oxazaborolidine Reduction, H. Adams, N. J. Gilmore, S. Jones, M. P. Muldowney, S. H. von Reuß and R. Vemula, Org. Lett., 2008, 10, 1457-1460.

Chris Warner

Chris did his final year project working in Dr Jones’ group here at Sheffield, then spent his summer working at Pfizer. He started his PhD studies in October 2009.

Degree(s): MChem Chemistry with study in Australia (University of Sheffield)

Project: Organocatalysis

Publications:

  • P-Chiral phosphine oxide catalysed reduction of prochiral ketimines using trichlorosilane, C. J. A. Warner, A. T. Reeder and S. Jones, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2016, 27, 136–141.

  • Trichlorosilane mediated asymmetric reductions of the C=N bond, S. Jones and C. J. Warner, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2012, 10, 2189-2200.

  • Enantioselective Preparation of P-Chiral Phosphine Oxides, H. Adams, R. C. Collins, S. Jones, and C. J. A. Warner, Org. Lett., 2011, 13, 6576–6579.

Peichao Zhao

Peichao joined the group in October 2010, after obtaining his BSc from Liaocheng University and his Masters of Science from Shanghai University. Peichao (Eric) already had three publications to his name before joining the group!

Degree(s): BSc Chemistry (Liaocheng), MSc Chemistry (Shanghai)

Project: Catalytic synthesis of chiral amines

Publications:

Evaluating dynamic kinetic resolution strategies in the asymmetric hydrosilylation of cyclic ketimines, S. Jones and P. Zhao, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 2014, 25, 238-244.