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Fine Chemicals Group

North and south symposia enjoy success

Above: south 2006 speakers, from left, Gemma Thomas (Cambridge), Tony Proctor (Cardiff), Garath Adair (Bath), Matthew Unthank (Bristol), Lizzy Weller (Southampton), Philip Humphreys (Oxford), Genna Parkes (Loughborough), Julien Plet (University College, London), Huy Nguyen (Queen Mary College, London), Jean-Françoise Margathe (Warwick)
	(left) South 2006 winner Philip Humphreys with Steve Davis

The 17th annual SCI Organic Chemistry Postgraduate Symposia were held in April this year. Regional events took place in Scotland, and in the north and south of England with lectures from selected final-year graduate students who are completing research for a PhD at UK universities. The audiences comprised students from participating universities and delegates from industry, while the speakers had been selected to represent their institutions. The best two presentations at each event received cash prizes and free registration at the SCI’s Six Nations meeting at the end of the month.

The southern symposium was held for the first time at the new chemistry research laboratories of Oxford University on 5 April. An audience of over 100 enjoyed presentations given by students from ten different universities from the south of England and Wales. These covered a wide diversity of topics within organic chemistry, ranging from the design and synthesis of new antibacterial compounds to novel approaches to natural products including ergot alkaloids, Tagetitoxin and Balanol. Applications disclosed included new strategies for deracemisation, asymmetric catalysis and 5-endo-annulation. Every year a theme tends to emerge: on this occasion it was the preparation and reactions of aziridinyl ring systems which featured in four of the talks.

Thanks are due to Tim Donohoe at the University of Oxford for his local organisation, to all the members of the audience who travelled across the country to support their speakers, and also to Waynflete Professor of Chemistry Steve Davies for making available the facilities of the chemical research laboratory.

Southern symposium winner
First prize was awarded to Philip Humphreys from the University of Oxford for his presentation on ‘Reactions of α-lithiated terminal aziridines’. Second prize went to Matthew Unthank from the University of Bristol for his presentation entitled ‘Novel methodology associated with vinyl sulfonium salts and applications in the synthesis of Balanol’. Due to the high quality and close nature of the competition, the judges also decided to award Matthew an invitation to the Six Nations meeting.

The Scottish symposium on novel organic chemistry was held at the University of Dundee, also on 5 April. An audience of over 100 enjoyed the eight presentations that were given by students from six different Scottish universities. The presentations covered a wide range of topics and arenas within organic chemistry, from chemical genetics to the synthesis of synthetic receptors. The areas of target-orientated synthesis, of both natural and non-natural biologically relevant molecules, as well as synthetic methodology, were also covered.

Thanks are due to Rudi Marquez from the University of Dundee for his local organisation and all the members of the audience who travelled across Scotland to support their speakers. John Lewis from SCI Scotland was also present to promote the merits of SCI membership.

Scottish symposium winner
First prize went to Iain Inverarity from the University of Edinburgh for his presentation on ‘Marked small molecules libraries: a new approach to molecular probe design.’ Second prize was awarded to Andrew Jamieson from the University of Glasgow for his presentation entitled ‘Stereoselective synthesis of β-hydroxy-α-amino acids via an ether directed palladium catalysed aza-Claisen rearrangement.’

John Carey, Dean Rivers & David Witty, GSK