Procter Group

Out now in @NatureChemistry! Photocat ♻️💡 activation of alcohols via alkoxy sulfonium salt formation gives alkoxy radicals that couple with alkenes to give prods of 1,2-difunctionalization - also on kg-scale in flow. Congrats to Huaibo and team!

Out now in @J_A_C_S! Biocatalytic activation ♻️ of benzothiophenes as their S-oxides using an engineered S-oxygenase "switches on” dearomatizing cross-couplings to set stereogenic centres or axes. Congrats to Órla and Emily and team!👇

Check out our recent review of approaches to catalysis with the one and only SmI2, published in @angew_chem! We hope this in-depth look 🔎 into Sm(II) catalysis can guide future research that completes the reagent’s reinvention. Congratulations to Jack!👇

findaphd.com/search/Project… [findaphd.com]

Interested in joining the team as a PhD student? Interested in photocatalysis and molecular editing? 💡♻️✂️ A funded PhD starting Oct 2026 for home and overseas applicants is now open to applications. 🧪🧑‍🔬🎓  For more information visit FindAPhD 🔗👇

Out in @angew_chem! Our latest take on metal-free cross-coupling & an app in drug synthesis! Alpha amido sulfonium salts, formed direct from arylacetamides & sulfoxides, undergo sigmatropic rearr to give products of arene C-H-type functionalization Great work team! 🔗👇

Interested in strain-release and bioisostere synthesis? Check out our new Sm(II)-catalyzed ♻ process in @angew_chem! Sm(II)-catalyzed strain-release coupling of housane ketones with alkenes give decorated norbornanes not easily made by trad methods. Congrats to the team! 🔗👇

And congratulations on completing your PhD Dr Valentina Cuomo, you will be missed! We wish you all the best with your career and future as an excellent chemist! 🎓🥼

Check out our article in @angew_chem! Nitroarene-enabled photo C-H oxidation 💡 allows us to use ‘inert’ sulfides as direct precursors of aldehydes/ketones. We showcase in one pot processes to amines, alkenes and alcohols! Thank you Valentina for all your hard work! 🔗👇

Last week we celebrated the annual PGR conference with Alex and Jack presenting their work on SmI2-catalysed reactions, Muze and Órla presenting posters, and Emily taking home the Best Biological Chemistry Poster prize! 🏆 Congratulations Emily and well done to all! 🧪🥼🥇

Talented postdoc?🥼 Interested in taking a further step towards an independent academic position? A fixed-term Lectureship in the Procter group is available now! 🧪Gain valuable experience in the department while helping David run his team.

Congratulations to Órla for winning best poster prize at EWOC Europe 2025, Novartis, Basel, Switzerland! 🥇 Her work on the enzymatic activation of benzothiophenes for enantioselective metal-free-couplings will be out soon..…Well done Órla!

📢 Come join us in sunny Southampton ☀️ The opening for our Postdoctoral Research Associate in Organic Synthesis is now live! jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?r… Deadline: Thurs 29th May 2025 Start date: Flexible – anytime from now to early 2026 @UoSChem_ChemEng @unisouthampton