Matthew Gaunt courtesy Nathan Pitt ©University of Cambridge
Professor Matthew Gaunt delivered his inaugural lecture as the holder of the Yusuf Hamied 1702 Chair of Chemistry on Friday 5 July in the BMS lecture theatre.
Matthew spoke about his group’s major contributions to the field over the last 20 years before describing current research developing catalysts that impart new reactivity into organic molecules. The overarching theme of the lecture was the pursuit of inventing and harnessing novel chemical reactivity concepts that open new opportunities for synthesis-driven solutions to small molecule and biomacromolecule-based challenges.
He commented: “Functional molecules that we need to impact our everyday lives are getting more complicated – inevitably we need better tools to build them. That’s where our work starts.”
He also described current research efforts developing new methods to insert single carbon atoms into complex molecules to modify their physicochemical and biological properties, new activation modes to enable catalytic cross coupling and the development of a synthetic toolkit for the functionalisation of nucleic acids.
From left: Yusuf Hamied and Matthew Gaunt courtesy Nathan Pitt ©University of Cambridge
Much of these research efforts were underpinned by a high-throughput experimentation platform that utilises robotics to accelerate the execution and analysis of reactions, as well as generating chemical reaction data that will be essential for future predictive models for synthesis.
In keeping with the recent inaugural lectures given by 1968 Professor of Theoretical Chemistry Angelos Michaelides and 1920 Professor of Physical Chemistry Tuomas Knowles, the lecture was preceded by presentations given by three early-career researchers, all of whom analyse molecules in a wide range of applications.
From left: Martin Priessner, Emma Brock and Jonathan Slaughter courtesy Nathan Pitt ©University of Cambridge
Dr Jonathan Slaughter
Postdoc in the Wright and Grey Groups
Jonathan synthesises new inorganic molecules for multiple applications. He has made some zirconium-metal precursors that can be used in catalysis with applications in areas like plastic waste reforming. Jonathan explained that zirconia is "useful in many catalytic systems" because it is structurally tough and can be doped by many metals. He also investigates novel lithium-battery electrolytes to help extend battery lifetimes.
Dr Emma Brock
Postdoc in the Lee lab
Emma showed how she images human brain tissue to map where alpha-synuclein protein aggregates form in Parkinson’s disease. This protein helps send signals in the brain but when it misfolds this can lead to Parkinson’s disease. Emma’s work has contributed to a rich dataset of over one million images for the Parkinson’s aggregate map (PAM).
Dr Martin Priessner
Postdoc in the Goodman lab and with AstraZeneca
As AI becomes more prevalent in the sciences, researchers like Martin are bringing AI to chemistry. Martin explained that there is a growing need for automated programs that efficiently analyze spectroscopic data to elucidate molecular structures. Martin builds AI that can integrate multiple spectroscopic methods (including NMR and IR) to predict molecular structures. He is training the model to improve its accuracy and transferability to experimental data.