BY STEVE RANGER, EDITOR IN CHIEF
Professor Liam Ball from the School of Chemistry at the University of Nottingham, UK, was recently named as one of the 2025 winners of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists.
The awards, established by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences, are the largest unrestricted prizes for UK scientists under 42, with winners receiving £100,000 ($130,000) in funding.
The award recognised Ball’s work with bismuth, a non-toxic element, which has enabled safer and more efficient herbicide development and drug production. He spoke to C&I about the work his team is doing.
Can you tell us a bit about the work you are doing?
My lab is interested in developing new synthesis methods for making small molecules, discovering novel chemical reactivity and understanding reaction mechanisms. We work across organic and organometallic chemistry and catalysis but have a particular focus on the chemistry of phosphorus and bismuth. We use these tools to develop methods to make the molecules we need – for example, as pharmaceuticals and agrichemicals – ideally more efficiently and more sustainably than we do currently. We’ve collaborated towards these objectives with quite a few companies, which has been really fulfilling.
What would be examples of the projects you are involved in?
A big focus of our work is organobismuth chemistry. Bismuth is an under-utilised element – particularly in organic synthesis – but benefits from low cost, low toxicity, and a unique reactivity profile. We, and other groups, have recognised the great opportunities this gives for the development of new chemistry and synthesis strategies.
What lead you down this research path?
Academics often have preconceptions about the problems faced by industry, but it’s only when you speak to chemists in industry that you really start to understand the real challenges. A lot of what we work on has been influenced by my interactions and collaborations with industrial colleagues. Sometimes the challenge might be what you consider a mundane transformation or an already solved problem, but in certain very relevant applications it just doesn’t work. Sometimes it’s a problem that you didn’t know was a problem at all. These interactions can be really motivating and of course give us great challenges to get our teeth into.
Reaction mechanism gives you the opportunity to think really deeply about a problem, and it’s very satisfying to pick away at it and ultimately develop a model that explains all the experimental observations.
In terms of the bismuth chemistry: this came from reading during my PhD. I realised that the field had not been investigated that much since the 1980s when it was first discovered, and that there were opportunities to look back at the chemistry with fresh eyes and apply it to contemporary problems.
Why was bismuth chemistry overlooked for so long?
Looking at the field now, it’s not obvious why it was relatively overlooked for so long. One reason might be that organobismuth chemistry was developed at about the same time that cross-coupling methods really started to grow in sophistication. The bismuth-mediated arylation chemistry wasn’t as general or as powerful as something like cross-coupling so it probably didn’t capture the imagination or find the applications and fell by the way-side. But now as we look back on it we can see the complementarity in the reactivity of organobismuth chemistry, and also the benefits around things like costs and toxicity.
What are the areas of exploration for bismuth chemistry now?
Currently there’s still a lot to be done at both ends of the spectrum: from fundamental understanding of reaction mechanism to real-world applications. The most realistic applications are currently in high-value compounds rather than bulk commodities – I think there’s real potential in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, flavours and fragrances, or photovoltaics.
So, it’s a combination of pure research and real-world application?
Absolutely - we aim to use rigorous mechanistic understanding as the core of our research, but we can choose what we work on, so it makes sense to work on something that has real world applications as well. Hopefully that way we can have academic impact as well as higher TRL impact. Both are really satisfying in their own right. They tick different boxes.
What impact does the award have?
It’s an amazing validation of the work we are doing and a reflection on the programme overall. I think it’s a great recognition for the group, and all the effort my team put into their research.
How important is industry collaboration?
It’s incredibly important, absolutely fundamental I would say, not only in terms of giving us the ideas but also in terms of the support. We’ve really benefited from our interactions with industry, and a lot of companies really champion academic research. Our collaborations are important not only in defining problems and advancing the science, but also in giving my co-workers the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of industry.
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