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

New opportunities for advanced organic synthesis-flow-based chemical processing

M Baumann, IR Baxendale, JJ Hayward, MD Hopkin, J Jin, MO Kitching, S Lanners, SV Ley, N Nikbin-Roudsari, CD Smith, CJ Smith, L Tamborini

J LABELLED COMPD RAD

(2008)

51

252

The Changing Face of Organic Synthesis

SV Ley, IR Baxendale

Chimia

(2008)

62

162

(doi: 10.2533/chimia.2008.162)

An electrophysiological and behavioural study of insect antifeedant properties of natural and synthetic drimane-related compounds.

WM BLANEY, MSJ SIMMONDS, SV LEY, RB KATZ

Physiological Entomology

(2008)

12

281

(doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1987.tb00752.x)

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)

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)

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)