Former Group Members

Post-Doctoral Research Associates

Dr Pankaj Kumar Majhi (2022-2024):

Pankaj comes from West Bengal, India. He completed his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Jadavpur University in 2013 then he completed his M.Sc in Chemistry from IIT Kanpur in 2015. He obtained his Ph.D. degree at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, under the supervision of Prof. Yonggui Robin Chi in 2020. His previous work mainly focused on enantioselective synthetic transformations by employing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalyst. He joined the ADS group in March 2022 as a Marie-Curie fellow. His current work mainly focuses on mechanistic studies of NHC-organocatalysis. 

Dr Tengfei Kang (2020-2024):

Tengfei grew up in Xianyang, a historical city in China, and in 2014 he got a bachelor's degree in chemistry at Sichuan University. Afterwards, he obtained his PhD degree at Sichuan University, under the supervision of Prof. Xiaoming Feng in 2019. His previous work mainly focused on catalytic asymmetric transformations by employing chiral N,N′-dioxide/metal complexes and guanidines as catalysts. After one year as an assistant researcher in the Feng group, he joined the ADS group in September 2020 as a Newton International Fellow to develop novel catalytic asymmetric methodologies using chiral Lewis bases.

Dr Alejandro Manchado (2022-2023)

Alejandro is from Salamanca, Spain, a European Capital of Culture in 2002, where he obtained his undergraduate and masters. Also there, he carried out his PhD research on the Michael addition of chiral lithium amides, domino reactions and molecular modelling under the supervision of Prof. Narciso M. Garrido. Alejandro then obtained his first Postdoctoral position in the same group researching a novel radical rearrangement promoted by a Barton decarboxylation reaction. He is now a Postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Andew Smith, working on dynamic acylative kinetic resolution of tetra-substituted heterocyclic alcohols.

Dr Ding Yuan

Yuan Ding comes from China and now is a visiting scholar in ADS group. She obtained her PhD degree in Pharmaceutical at Central China Normal University in 2016 and worked in Panzhihua University as a teacher for years. Now her current work focuses on enantioselective isothiourea-catalyzed reactions.

Dr Martin Juhl

Martin is from Aarhus, also known as “the city of smiles”, in Denmark. In Aarhus he obtained his bachelors and masters (Cand. Scient.) degree in chemistry, working with transition metal catalysis under the supervision of Prof. Troels Skrydstrup. He then moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, to complete his PhD in the Ji-Woong Lee group, with 6 months abroad in the Benjamin List group in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany. He worked on developing novel applications of CO2 in organic chemistry. Martin is now a post-doctoral researcher with Prof. Andrew Smith, working on enantioselective rearrangements.

Dr Greg Boyce

Greg is a visiting scholar while on sabbatical from Florida Gulf Coast University where he is an Associate Professor of Chemistry. He received his undergraduate education at Emory University in Atlanta where he received in ACS-certified B.S. in Chemistry in 2006, then received his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under the direction of Professor Jeff Johnson in 2011. His work in the ADS group focuses on enantioselective isothiourea-catalyzed reactions.

Dr Claire Young

Claire completed a Modern Apprenticship in analytical chemistry at GSK, Irvine and Forth Valley College, Falkirk. She then gained her MChem from the University of St Andrews carrying out an industrial placement with Chroma Therapeutics. In 2017, she gained her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Andrew Smith. Her work was focused on synthetic and mechanistic investigations of enantioselective isothiourea-catalysed reactions, and decided to continue in the group as a post-doctoral researcher. She is now working as an associate lecturer (education focussed) at the University of St Andrews.

Dr Joanne Dunne:

Joanne completed her undergraduate degree in Biological Chemistry with Drug Discovery at the University of Dundee in 2016. She then moved to the University of Edinburgh for her PhD where she investigated enantioselective main-group catalysis with Dr. Stephen Thomas. Joanne joined the group in 2020 as a postdoctoral researcher to investigate the role of chalcogen-bonding in isothiourea catalysis.

Dr Mark Greenhalgh:

Mark studied Chemistry with a year in Australia at the University of Sheffield, graduating in 2010 after completing his fourth year project with Dr Simon Jones. He moved to the University of Bristol to join the Chemical Synthesis DTC in 2010 and in 2011 began his PhD with Dr Steve Thomas and Prof. Paul Pringle on the iron-catalysed hydrofunctionalisation of alkenes and alkynes. He moved with Steve to the University of Edinburgh in 2012 to complete his PhD studies. Mark joined the group in 2015 to work on the development of Lewis base-catalysed asymmetric methodologies.

Dr Honglei Liu:

Honglei obtained her BSc and PhD degrees at China Agricultural University. Her previous work was focused on the development of annulation reactions of zwitterions for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds using metal catalysis and organocatalysis. She joined the ADS group in 2018 as a Newton International Postdoctoral Fellow to work on asymmetric catalytic methodologies using isothioureas.

Dr Chang Shu:

Chang Shu comes from China and gained his BSc at Tianjin University, followed by a PhD at the Chengdu Organic Chemistry Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. After finishing his postdoctoral work on polymer chemistry at CSIRO, Australia, he joined the ADS group as a Royal Society Newton International Fellow and is currently working on chiral Lewis base catalysed transformations of α,β-unsaturated esters.

Dr Nitul Guha:

Nitul completed his PhD in organic chemistry focusing on nano-impregnated transition metals as heterogeneous catalyst for coupling, reduction and oxidation reactions at CSIR-IHBT, India. He then worked as a National postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Vinod K Singh at IISER Bhopal, India exploring the enantioselective synthesis of heterocyles using chiral Lewis acids. He has joined the group as Newton International Postdoctoral Fellow and is working on the development of chiral heterogeneous catalysts.

Dr Aileen Frost

Dr James Taylor:

James received his Masters in Chemistry for Drug Discovery from the University of Bath in 2008. He then completed his PhD at the same university working with Prof. Jonathan Williams and Dr Steven Bull, where his researched focused on new organocatalytic methodology and its application to organic synthesis. James has now began his independent research career at the University of St Andrews as a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow. For details of his research visit his website: www.thetaylorgroup.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk

Dr Charlene Fallan:

Charlene completed her undergraduate studies at Strathclyde University going on to complete a PhD at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Hon Wai Lam. She spent her post-doc working with isothiourea catalysts. She is now working in Cambridge.

Dr David Daniels:

Dave gained his MChem from the University of Oxford, before completing his D.Phil at the same institution under the supervision of Dr Ed Anderson in the development of novel palladium-catalysed reactions. He spent his post-doc working on asymmetric catalysis using chiral isothioureas, and is now working for Pfizer.

Dr Eoin Gould:

Eoin gained a first class M. Chem. degree from the University of Edinburgh, completing his undergraduate project work with Dr Alison Hulme. His PhD project was concerned with the development and applications of novel amine-based organocatalysts and funded by Schering-Plough and the EPSRC (CASE for New Academics). He is currently a post-doctoral researcher in the group of Dr Gordon Florence at the University of St Andrews.

Dr Carmen Simal Fernández:

Originally from Santander, Spain, Carmen carried out her PhD work in the laboratory of Prof. José M. Concellón at the University of Oviedo working on SmI2 and organolithium mediated transformations. During her PhD studies she spent time working as a visiting student in the groups of Prof. Varinder Aggarwal (Bristol), Prof. George Kokotos (Athens) and Prof. Steve Davies (Oxford) before undertaking postdoctoral research at Oxford in the same group. Her post-doctorial work involved examining isothiourea-mediated catalytic transformations. She is currently a post-doctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Roberto Fernández de la Pradilla at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid, Spain

Dr Kenneth Ling:

Kenny carried out his D. Phil working for Prof. Steve Davies at the University of Oxford, working on nitrogen directed cyclopropanation reactions and their applications in synthesis. His post-doctoral work was funded by the EPSRC and focused on NHC-catalysed asymmetric methodologies and hetero-Claisen reactions in synthesis. Kenny is currently carrying out an industrial post-doc for Syngenta in Jealott's Hill.

Dr Carmen Concellón:

Carmen carried out her PhD work in the laboratory of Prof. Jose Concellón at the University of Oviedo, Spain working on novel applications of SmI2 in synthesis. During her PhD studies she spent some time as a project student working in the groups of Prof. Tim Gallagher (Bristol) and Prof. Steve Davies (Oxford). Her post-doctoral work was funded by the Spanish Government. After gaining a Spanish government funded fellowship she is currently working in Oviedo.

Dr Nicolas Duguet:

Nico completed his PhD studies in the laboratory of Dr Jacques Maddaluno at the University of Rouen, France working on the design of new ligands for organolithium species and their use in enantioselective 1,2 and 1,4-additions. As part of his PhD studies he spent some time as a project student working in collaboration Prof. Kiyoshi Tomioka in Kyoto. His post-doctoral position was funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Nico is now carrying out post-doctoral work at the University of Lyon.

PhD students

Matthew Westwood (2019-2024):

Matthew grew up in Newcastle before completing his MChem at Heriot-Watt University. During his exchange year at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, he carried out a research project under Prof. Martina Stenzel at the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design, developing a RAFT synthesis of fucose-based glycopolymers. He then carried out an Royal Society of Chemistry funded summer placement in the lab of Dr Ai-Lan Lee as well as a summer placement working for Dr Ruaraidh McIntosh. Under the supervision of Dr Ai-Lan Lee, he undertook his final year project on the Minisci-type acylation and carbamoylation of heterocycles. Outside of chemistry, Matthew enjoys surfing, climbing and cricket.

Zhuan Duan (2019-2023)

Zhuan comes from China where he completed a BSc in applied chemistry at the Huazhong Agricultural​ University in 2011, followed by an MSc in Organic​ Chemistry at Central China Normal University in​ 2014. After several years of teaching, he has joined the Smith group as a CSC scholar, mainly focussing on mechanistic studies of NHC-organocatalysis.

Jerson Lapetaje (2019-2023)

Jerson completed BSc and MSc degrees in Chemistry at MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology, Philippines, under the DOST-ASTHRD Scholarship Program. His MSc in focussed on developing new methods for synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. He has now joined the Smith group and is working on developing isothiourea-catalysed reactions. Outside of chemistry, Jerson is a Resident On-Call Performing Artist of the Internationally renowned Theater group in the Philippines called Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG).

Callum Prentice (2018-2023)

Callum is from Birmingham and completed his MChem at Somerville College, University of Oxford in 2018. His masters project investigated the use of sulfyinlamines as iminosulfene precursors for cycloaddition reactions. He joined St Andrews in September 2018 as a joint PhD student between the Smith group and the Zysman-Colman group where he will be developing multifunctional photoredox-organocatalyst systems for small molecule activation.

Rebecca Craik (2018-2023)

Rebecca grew up in south of France and graduated with an MChem from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier (ENSCM) in France. Throughout her course she had the opportunity to do various placements: one in Sanofi in France (Vitry sur Seine) and one in GlaxoSmithline in the UK (Stevenage). Her final year project was an internship in Arran Chemical in Ireland where worked on scalable routes to commercially useful enones. Her PhD project will focus on lewis base catalysed rearrangements.

Yihong Wang (2017-2022)

Yihong obtained his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from Hunan University of TCM, before moving to Sichuan University to complete a masters degree in Prof Guo’s group, which focused on development of strategies to achieve candidate compounds with high bio-activity for the discovery of small molecular targeted-drugs. After his master period, he worked at Johnson&Johnson as a medicinal specialist for a year, based in Guangzhou, China. His PhD project is focussed on Lewis base-catalysed kinetic resolution.

Shen Qu (Jason) (2017-2022):

Jason is originally from China. He obtained his BSc degree from the University of St Andrews carrying out his undergraduate project in the 4th year in the Smith group. His PhD project focusses on kinetic resolution of biaryls using isothiourea catalysis.

Paul Ewing (2017-2021)

After spending two years playing professional football for Livingston F.C., Paul carried out his MChem degree in Chemistry with Industrial Experience at Heriot-Watt University. His placement was spent within the catalysis team at AstraZeneca (Macclesfield), and completed his Master's under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Mansell. Paul will begin his studies working for Prof. Polly Arnold in Edinburgh, where he is working with metal-NHC complexes for a range of catalytic processes.

Jacqueline Bitai (2017-2021):

Jacqueline obtained her BSc and MSc degrees from the Vienna University of Technology in Austria. Her master project was carried out under the supervision of Dr.techn. Katharina Bica, focusing on ligand design for asymmetric transition metal catalysis in water. She joined the ADS group in 2017 with her PhD project focusing on the development of new methodologies combining transition metal catalysis and organocatalysis.

Calum McLaughlin (2016-2020):

Calum gained an MChem degree from the University of Strathclyde in 2016, completing a final year project with Dr Allan Watson. During this time, he undertook an industrial placement at GSK (Stevenage) and carried out summer placements with Dr Allan Watson, Prof. William Kerr and Prof. Eva Hevia. His PhD is focussed on the development of novel asymmetric organocatalytic processes.

Will Hartley (2016-2020):

Will received his MChem degree from the University of Sheffield in 2016, completing his masters with Prof. Patrick W. Fowler FRS. During his degree, he undertook a summer project with Prof. Joe Harrity on the synthesis and cycloadditions of münchnones. His PhD project is focused on Lewis base catalysed sigmatropic rearrangements.

Jiufeng Wu (2015-2019):

Jiufeng is originally from China and obtained his MChem degree from the University of St Andrews. He has previously carried out an undergraduate summer project within the group, and he has also conducted industrial placements at GSK, Montrose and Novartis, Horsham. His PhD project is focused on the use a,ß-unsaturated acyl ammonium species.

Shuyue Zhang (Peter) (2015-2019):

Peter received his MSci degree in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry from Imperial College, London, completing his Master's project with Prof. Alan Spivey on the total synthesis of Lophirone H. His PhD focuses on the investigation of NHC catalyzed cascade reactions.

Liz Munday (2015-2019):

Liz graduated from the University of Oxford in 2015, during this time she completed her part II project in the laboratory of Prof. Martin Smith, in the area of cation-directed kinetic resolution. Her PhD project focuses on kinetic resolution using isothiourea catalysis.

Ryan Kerr (2014-2018):

Jude Arokianathar (2014-2018):

Sam Smith (2014-2018):

Anastassia Matviitsuk (2014-2018):

Stefania Musolino (2014-2018):

Rifahath Mon NP (2014-2018):

Nassilia Attaba (2012-2018):

Danila Gasperini (2014-2018):

Stephanie Spoerle (2014-2018):

Diego-Javier Barrios Antúnez (2013-2017):

Claire Young (2013-2017):

Alix de la Houpliere (2011-2017):

Kevin Kasten (2012-2017):

Kevin studied chemistry at Humboldt-Universität in Berlin from 2007-2012. During his PhD, he investigated reactivity with chiral Lewis bases.

Ross Chisholm (2012-2016):

Ross comes from Ireland and gained BSc and MSc degrees from University College Dublin carrying out his final year project with Prof. Martin Albrecht. His PhD project, in collaboration with Dr Georg Haehner, focused on surface modification of SAMs.

Tom West (2012-2016):

Tom gained an MSci degree from the University of Bristol in 2012, completing a final year project with Prof. Varinder Aggarwal FRS, having previously undertaken academic summer placements in the groups of Prof. Guy Lloyd-Jones and Prof. Kevin Booker-Milburn. His PhD project focused on developing novel asymmetric organocatalytic processes.

Dan Stark (2012-2016):

Dan gained an MChem degree from Northumbria University, completing his final year project with Prof. Steven Stanforth, having also completed projects for the RSC Separation Science Group and British Mass Spectrometry Society. His PhD project focused on novel methods for the synthesis of aromatic and asymmetric heterocycles.

Alyn Davies (2011-2016):

Alyn gained an MChem degree from the University of Warwick, completing a final year project with Prof. Michael Shipman, having also undertaken placements at Astrazeneca (Charnwood) and Genentech (San Francisco). His PhD project focused on developing and investigating the scope of novel asymmetric catalytic processes using N-heterocylic carbenes. He is now carrying out post-doctoral research with Prof. Michael Willis in Oxford.

Emily Robinson (2011-2015):

Emily gained an MChem degree with Industrial Experience from the University of Edinburgh spending a year with Macfarlan Smith as a process chemist. This was followed by a masters project under the supervision of Prof. Dave Leigh. Emily's PhD project investigated novel isothiourea catalysed transformations.

Pei-Pei Yeh (2010-2015):

Pei-Pei gained her MChem degree from the University of St Andrews carrying out a final year project with Dr Alan Aitken. Her project concerned novel isothiourea mediated methodologies.

Siobhan Smith (2010-2014):

Siobhan gained her MChem degree from the University of St Andrews, completing an undergraduate Masters project here in the Smith group. Her project focused upon novel applications of isothiourea mediated catalysis.

Louis Morrill (2010-2014):

Louis gained an MChem degree from the University of St Andrews carrying out an industrial placement working for AstraZeneca (Charnwood). His project focused on novel methodology and synthetic applications of isothioureas. He is now working as a post-doctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Richmond Sarpong at Berkeley.

Ed Richmond (2009-2013):

Ed gained his undergraduate degree from the University of York, carrying out an MChem placement with Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel, Switzerland. His PhD project, in collaboration with CRUK and the EPSRC, focused upon developing hetero-Claisen type reactions in synthesis.

Dorine Belmessieri (2009-2013):

Dorine gained an MSc from the University of Montpellier, carrying out an industrial placement with Novartis in Basel, Switzerland. Her PhD project was focused upon developing novel asymmetric methods using amidines and isothioureas.

Chris Collett (2009-2013):

Chris gained his MChem degree from the University of St Andrews and carried out a final year project with Dr Alan Aitken. His PhD project was sponsored by the EPSRC and concerned with probing the mechanism of a variety of N-heterocyclic carbenes mediated organocatalytic transformations. He currently works for SynOil in Calgary, Canada.

Eoin Gould (2008-2012):

Stuart Leckie (2008-2012):

Stuart gained his M. Chem. degree from the University of St Andrews and carried out a final year project with Prof. David O'Hagan. His PhD project, which was sponsored by Pfizer, concerned the ability of N-heterocyclic carbenes to activate ketenes and developing their applications in synthesis. He is now working as a post-doctoral researcher in the group of Dr Matt Clarke at the University of St Andrews.

James Douglas (2008-2012):

James completed his undergraduate at the University of York, and his PhD work, in collaboration with AstraZeneca, focused on the development of new catalytic methodologies with N-heterocyclic carbenes. Having graduated, he has now moved on to a post-doctorial position in the group of Prof. Corey Stephenson at Boston University.

Craig Campbell:

Hailing from Wick, Craig gained a first class MChem degree from the University of St Andrews, carrying out his industrial placement with Pfizer (Sandwich) and completing his Masters project with Dr Nigel Botting. The Carnegie Trust sponsored his PhD project, which was concerned with developing multi-component processes employing N-heterocyclic carbene mediated catalysis and developing chiral NHCs for applications in organocatalysis. After successfully defending his thesis, he intended to audition for the X Factor, but has put this dream on hold to undertake post-doctoral research with Dr Ed Anderson at the University of Oxford.

Phil Woods:

Orginally from Manchester, Phil gained his M. Chem degree from New College, University of Oxford and completed his Part II project under the supervision of Prof. Steve Davies. His PhD work, in collaboration with AstraZeneca, focused upon the development of methods for the synthesis of polysubstituted heterocycles using Lewis-bases and the application of this methodology to natural product synthesis. He has now moved back to Oxford to undertake PhD work in the group of Dr Martin Smith.

Caroline Joannesse:

Caro carried out her undergraduate degree at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium and worked with Prof. Olivier Riant for her research project. She studied for her Masters degree at the University of Belfast through the Erasmus programme working with Dr Graham Saunders. Her PhD project was funded by the EPSRC and concerned the development and synthetic applications of isothioureas as catalysts.

Project students

Daisy Smith (2023-2024):

Daisy is investigating isothiourea-catalysed desymmetrisation of glycerol derivatives with Raj.

Hannah Mortlock (2023-2024):

Hannah is investigating isothiourea-catalysed enantioselective conjugate addition of thiobenzamides with Alastair.

Beau Bissett-Cooke (2023-2024):

Beau is investigating the kinetics of cyclopropanation of chalcones with Kevin.

Julia Roeterdink (Summer 2023):

Julia is an incoming 4th year undergraduate student at the University of St Andrews. She is working with Zhanyu, investigating isothiourea-catalysed enantioselective epoxidations of ketones.

Martha Prindl (2022-2023):

Martha is investigating isothiourea-catalysed enantioselective Michael additions of pyrazolone nucleophiles with Matthew.

George White (2022-2023):

George is investigating the ring opening of spirooxindole β-lactones derived from isothiourea-catalysed[2+2] cycloadditions of C(1)-ammonium enolates with isatin derivatives with Alastair.

Conal Aitken (2022-2023):

Conal investigated isothiourea-catalysed enatioselective conjugate additions of barbituric acid derivatives with Jerson.

Matilde Piras (2021-2022):

Matilde worked with Rebecca investigating isothiourea-catalysed [2+2] cycloadditions of ketimines.

Michael Sinfield (2021-2022):

Mike worked with Matthew expanding the group’s scope of isothiourea catalysed kinetic resolution experiments.

Philipp Seeberger (2014-2015):

Philipp worked with Alyn investigating stereodivergent processes.

Zamira Brice (2014-2015):

Zamira worked with Emily examining kinetic resolutions.

Patrick Williamson (2014-2015):

Patrick worked with Dan looking at intramolecular cycloadditions, and was awarded the prize for the best organic project.

Alison Fugard (2013-2014):

Alison worked with James on the development of asymmetric isothiourea catalysed synthesis of fused heterocycles, and was awarded the prize for the best organic project.

Ross McLennan (2013-2014):

Ross worked with Dave on developing new asymmetric routes towards biologically relevant heterocyclic cores.

Phil Brennan (2012-2013):

Phil worked with James on developing novel scaffolds to use as ammonium enolate precursors in asymmetric organocatalysis.

Ellie MacFarlane (2012-2013):

Ellie worked with Charlene on novel isothiourea catalysed transformations.

Sam Smith (2012-2013):

Sam worked with Louis on a project investigating isothiourea-based organocatalyic cycloadditions.

Caroline Jones (2011-2012):

Caroline investigared the isothiourea mediated Steglich rearrangement and its application towards natural product synthesis. She is now studying at the DTC in Integrated Sustainable Chemical Technologies in Bath

Lyndsay Ledingham (2011-2012):

Lyndsay's project probed novel reaction manifolds using isothioureas as asymmetric catalysts. She is now undertaking a PhD at York under the supervision of Dr Simon Breeden and Prof. Ian Fairlamb.

Jim Squires (2011-2012):

Jim also investigated novel applications of isothioureas as asymmetric catalysts. He is now undertaking a PhD at Imperial College London under the supervision of Dr Oscar Ces, Dr Ed Tate and Prof. David Klug.

Emma Flannery (2010-2011):

Emma evaluated isothiourea catalysts in the kinetic resolution of cyclic amides.

Ewen Calder (2010-2011):

Ewen prepared and investigated several Cinchona alkaloid derivatives as organocatalysts in intra-molceular Michael lactonisation reactions.

Reuben Holmes (2010-2011):

Reuben investigated isothiourea catalysed intermolecular Michael addition-lactonisation reactions towards the synthesis of dihydropyranone derivatives.

Lois Manton (2009-2010):

Lois synthesised and evaluated several novel stereodirecting nitrones in the asymmetric hetero-Claisen reaction to synthesise asymmetric oxindoles. Lois has now unertaken PhD research at the Univeristy of Bath.

Craig Johnston (2008-2009):

Craig prepared a number of chiral isothioureas and evaluated their reactivity in the asymmetric Steglich rearrangement. He has moved to Oxford to carry out his PhD under the supervision of Dr Martin Smith (keeping things in the family!).

Eddy Kallstrom (2008-2009):

Eddy prepared a range of NHCs from amino acids and employed them in a number of NHC mediated catalytic processes. He moved to Oxford to carry out his PhD under the supervision of Dr Darren Dixon.

Andrew Kyle (2007-2008):

Andrew prepared a range of 3,3'-oxindole derivatives employing NHC mediated catalysis in his prize-winning research project and as a summer student in the Smith group. He moved to Oxford carry out his PhD under the supervision of Dr Darren Dixon.

Alastair Durie (2007-2008):

Alastair prepared and evaluated a range of chiral NHCs as organocatalysts in his research project. He continuted at St Andrews, working towards a PhD with Prof. David O'Hagan.

Carmen Simal (summer 2007):

Carmen studied for her PhD in the group of Prof. Jose Concellón at the University of Oviedo and worked as a summer student in the Smith group developing a range of organocatalysts.

Phil Lenden (2006-2007):

Phil worked on the application of N-heterocyclic carbene mediated O- to C-carboxyl transfer to heterocyclic systems for his undergraduate project and as a summer student in the Smith group. He subsequently moved to the University of Oxford to carry out his PhD work with Dr Mike Willis.

Katie Gallagher (2006-2007):

Katie developed a number of novel catalysts and methods during her prize winning undergraduate project in the Smith group that was subsequently developed while working on a Royal Society Summer Studentship. She subsequently moved to the University of York to carry out her PhD work with Prof. Richard Taylor.

Kathryn Rix (2005-2006):

Kathryn carried out her prize winning undergraduate project in the Smith group, and subsequently studied for an M. Res in Environmental Biology at the University of St Andrews before teacher training in Cambridge. She subsequently undertook a PhD at Imperial College with Dr Mimi Hii.