In September 2010 I moved my research laboratory to the University of Seville, where I spend half my time at fortnightly intervals. Current research includes development of new heterogeneously-catalyzed routes relevant to organic synthesis especially with respect to the production of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Energy-related applications of catalysis, including high temperature fuel cells. Molecular self-assembly, chiral systems and enantioselective catalysis. Plasma-driven catalysis, nanoarchitectures for sensing and catalytic applications. New materials for hydrogen storage. Studies of high-energy helium and hydrogen ion implantation in alloys relevant to the operation of thermonuclear reactors. A wide range of experimental conditions are used ranging from single crystal surfaces in ultra high vacuum to nanoparticle systems in liquids under high pressure. Some of these projects involve collaboration with professors Steve Ley and Dominic Wright in Cambridge.

Selected Publications

Chemical Communications in press February (2012)

Switching on the dipole is not enough: co-operative effects in the self-assembly of thermally stable discrete and extended oligomers of polycyclic aromatics on Ag(100)

Journal of Physical Chemistry C (2012) in press

Adsorption geometry determines catalytic selectivity in highly chemoselective hydrogenation of crotonaldehyde on Ag(111)                       

Langmuir (Invited Feature Article) (2011) 27 9687.

Heterogeneous enantioselective catalysis by metals

Journal of the American Chemical Society (2010) 132 12246.

Identity of the active site in gold nanoparticle-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling of phenylacetylene and iodobenzene

Chemistry of Materials (2010) 22 5174.

Synthesis, characterization and surface tethering of sulfide-functionalized Ti₁₆-oxo-alkoxy cages.

Journal of Physical Chemistry (2010) 114 15075.

Influence of adsorption geometry in the heterogeneous enantioselective catalytic hydrogenation of a prototypical enone

ChemCatChem (2010) 2 1444.

Mechanism of gold-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling: homogeneous or heterogeneous chemistry?

Journal of the American Chemical Society  (2010) 132  8081.

Sonogashira coupling on an extended gold surface in vacuo: reaction of phenylacetylene with iodobenzene on Au(111)

Journal of the American Chemical Society   (2009) 131 14584.

Heterogeneous asymmetric hydrogenation of C=C bonds directed by surface-tethered chiral modifiers

Nature (2008) 454 981.

Size matters: gold nanoparticles derived from 55-atom clusters efficiently catalyze selective oxidation by O2 alone