Professor Steve Ley CBE FRS FMedSci | Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

Director of Research

In the Ley Group, we specialise in developing new synthesis methods and applying them to the construction of biologically important molecules. Over the years we have completed the total synthesis of many natural products, including: spongistatin 1 (anti-mitotic agent); rapamycin (immunosuppressant); thapsigargin (SERCA pumps inhibitor); azadirachtin (insect antifeedant); and bengazole A (fungicide). In addition to our research on natural product synthesis, we also pioneered flow chemistry and machine assisted synthesis.

For more detailed research information and our publication list, please see our legacy group website.

Completed Natural Products

Publications

A modular flow reactor for performing Curtius rearrangements as a continuous flow process.

M Baumann, IR Baxendale, SV Ley, N Nikbin, CD Smith, JP Tierney

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry

(2008)

6

1577

(doi: 10.1039/b801631n)

Azide monoliths as convenient flow reactors for efficient Curtius rearrangement reactions.

M Baumann, IR Baxendale, SV Ley, N Nikbin, CD Smith

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry

(2008)

6

1587

(doi: 10.1039/b801634h)

Facile, one-step production of niacin (vitamin B3) and other nitrogen-containing pharmaceutical chemicals with a single-site heterogeneous catalyst

R Raja, JM Thomas, M Greenhill-Hooper, SV Ley, FA Almeida Paz

Chemistry A European Journal

(2008)

14

2340

(doi: 10.1002/chem.200701679)

Functionalised butanediacetal-protected 1,2-diols as suitable partners for Pd-catalysed cross-coupling reactions

A Leyva, FE Blum, PR Hewitt, SV Ley

Tetrahedron

(2008)

64

2348

(doi: 10.1016/j.tet.2008.01.010)

Azeotropic reflux chromatography: an efficient solution to a difficult separation in the scale-up synthesis of spongistatin 1.

M O'Brien, A Diéguez-Vázquez, D-S Hsu, H Kraus, Y Sumino, SV Ley

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry

(2008)

6

1159

(doi: 10.1039/b719569a)

Synthesis of Natural Products from the Indian Neem Tree Azadirachta indica

GE Veitch, A Pinto, A Boyer, E Beckmann, JC Anderson, SV Ley

Org Lett

(2008)

10

569

(doi: 10.1021/ol7027898)

Microreactors in organic synthesis and catalysis

IR Baxendale, JJ Hayward, CD Smith, SV Ley, S Lanners

(2008)

(S)-5-Pyrrolidin-2-yl-1H-tetrazole

V Aureggi, V Franckeviius, MO Kitching, SV Ley, DA Longbottom, AJ Oelke, G Sedelmeier, SE Denmark, RC Smith

Organic Syntheses

(2008)

85

72

(doi: 10.15227/orgsyn.085.0072)

Total synthesis studies on macrocyclic pipecolic acid natural products: FK506, the antascomicins and rapamycin.

ML Maddess, MN Tackett, SV Ley

Progress in drug research. Fortschritte der Arzneimittelforschung. Progres des recherches pharmaceutiques

(2008)

66

13

(doi: 10.1007/978-3-7643-8595-8_2)

PtCl₄-catalyzed domino synthesis of fused bicyclic acetals

A Diéguez-Vázquez, CC Tzschucke, WY Lam, SV Ley

Angewandte Chemie International Edition

(2007)

47

209

(doi: 10.1002/anie.200704595)