Faculty of Natural Sciences

Chemistry

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Seminar Series 2008-2009

2008
Sept 17th	Dr Graeme M. Day Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge	Are Crystal Structure Predictable? A Challenge for Computational Chemistry. Given the chemical diagram of a molecule, is it possible to predict how it will crystallise (i.e. space group, unit cell parameters and all atomic coordinates)? The development of computational methods to address this problem has been a great challenge for computational chemistry over the past few decades and some methods are now starting to produce reliable predictions for simple systems. As the methods are further improved, and they become more generally applicable, the possibility of applying such calculations to the design of new materials with desired properties is becoming a reality. The presentation will describe recent developments and assessment of methods being developed for crystal structure prediction of organic molecules. Download an Abstract PDF Dr Day's WebPages can be found here.
Oct 1st	Ms. Lina Meghani Keele University	Towards new functional porous polymeric materials.
	Ms. Sarah Sherratt Keele University	Ferromagnetic resonance as a tool for characterising metal oxides.
Oct 10th	Mr. James Beardmore Keele University	Towards a model of non-equilibrium binding of metal ions in biological systems.
	Ms. Laura Sunderland Keele University	Bioactive compounds derived from Verona oil.
Oct 29th	Dr. Chris Solomon School of Physical Sciences, University of Kent	"Making Faces" - Statistical and evolutionary techniques for the synthesis of human faces. This seminar will discuss work in which we have combined statistical models of facial appearance with an interactive genetic algorithm to produce a new type of facial composite (i.e.PhotoFIT) system for use by police forces. The resulting system EFIT-V has now been fully commercialised and is already in full operational use by more than 10 UK constabularies less than 1 year after its release. Download PDF version of Abstract We will discuss the scientific basis of our system which exploits a number of well-known techniques, demonstrate how it works and present results of both laboratory and real-world use. Dr Solomon's WebPages can be found here.
Nov 12th	Dr. Dave Adams Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool	The self-assembly of peptides and polymers in novel materials. The formation of hydrogels through the self-assembly of oligopeptides is receiving considerable attention because of their potential usefulness as novel structurants. There are relatively few studies of the structure-property relationships in terms of the chemical character of the gelator used. Recently, the gelation behavior of dipeptides coupled to a fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) moiety has been reported. These materials can be gelled using a pH trigger, such that the soluble sodium salt of the Fmoc-dipeptide is converted to the acid form (which gels) by a drop in pH. These materials represent an interesting opportunity to examine the effect of altering a single amino acid on the properties of the final gel. We show that the gel strength of the hydrogels formed from Fmoc-dipeptides is determined by the constituent amino acids, with the final gel strength linked to the overall hydrophobicity of the Fmoc-dipeptide. Gelation was triggered using glucono-d-lactone, which hydrolyses in water controllably lowering the pH. This allows hydrogels with pre-determined properties to be designed. Lowering the pH using this method allows the development of the gel strength and the microstructure of the networks to be followed by a number of techniques including cryo-SEM, CD and rheology, giving insight into the mechanism of gel formation. Download PDF version of Abstract Dr Adam's WebPages can be found here.
Nov 29th	Dr. Karl Hemming School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield	From lowly bacteria to outer space: efforts in the synthesis of nitrogen containing natural products. This lecture will have something for everyone - from the general scientist to the specialist synthetic chemist. The talk will start with an exploration of the world of alchemy and the search for the philosophers' stone, taking us via a few murders and spontaneous human combustion, before moving on to a general introduction to some phosphorus based methodology in organic synthesis. The talk will then look at microbial and extraterrestrial sources of molecules that are of interest to some of the projects that we are involved with at Huddersfield, with a focus on nitrogen containing natural products of biological interest such as the antitumour jenamidines, the potent toxin anatoxin-a, and the antitumour antibiotic anthramycins. Download PDF version of Abstract Dr Hemming's WebPages can be found here.
Dec 3rd Note: at 3pm!	Dr. Susanna Texeira Keele University and Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble	Neutron crystallography at high, medium and low resolution.
Dec 10th 4pm LJ1.75	Prof. John Wallis School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University	Recent Progress in the Synthesis of Functionalised Organosulfur Donors, and the Study of Molecular Interactions. BEDT-TTF 1 has provided a wide range of radical cation salts which show a variety of electrical properties. Here the synthetic approaches to the preparation of functionalised derivatives of BEDT-TTF and related ring systems will be presented including, in particular, chiral donors such as 2-4 and donors with metal binding groups such as 5. Preliminary results from electrocrystallisation and charge transfer salt formation will discussed. The use of donor 5 to provide a molecular capsule will be illustrated. There will be a short discussion of progress on another project concerning the study of attractive intermolecular interactions. Download PDF version of Abstract Prof. Wallis' WebPages can be found here.
2009
Jan 14th postponed!	Prof. Matt Rosseinsky Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool	Recent advances in inorganic functional materials. Please note that this seminar has been postponed until June 24th!
Jan 28th	Liz Maddock, Keele University	Computer modelling of intrinsic defects and rare earth doping in KYF4, K2YF5 and KY3F10.
	Dr. David Foley Keele University	Improving the oral bioavailability of drugs by targeting PepT1 mediated transport.
Feb 11th	Dr. Katherine Haxton Keele University	Can science blogging enhance your research life?
	Dr. Jane Essex Keele University Education, School of Public Policy and Professional Practice	A cognitive framework for novice chemists.
Feb 25th Note: at 1 pm!	Dr. Richard Hamlyn Xention Ltd.	Modern strategies in drug discovery. Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice and is gaining in clinical importance as the population ages. The treatment of AF is, however, controversial and often problematic. Although a number of drugs and therapeutic approaches are used for the management of AF, each has significant side effects and none is suitable for the prevention of the disease. This lecture will explore the process of modern drug discovery and highlight those areas in which new developments in technology have aided in the design of potential lead compounds. Download PDF version of Abstract More information on Xention can be found here.
March 4th	Prof. Malcolm Stevens The University of Nottingham	'Chemical whispering: an approach to the discovery of novel antitumour agents' The talk will give illustrations, from own experiences, of a cost-effective method to develop novel chemical entities with unique pharmacophores, novel biological properties, and with robust pharmaceutical properties without synthesising and screening zillions of compounds. Download PDF version of Abstract Prof. Stevens' WebPages can be found here.
March 18th	Mr. John Butcher Keele University	Computational Intelligence: A concrete field.
	Mr. Dave Thompson Keele University	Elemental tagging for bioanalysis, with ICPMS detection.
March 25th	Ms. Tess Phillips Keele University	Towards the total synthesis of (+)-ajmaline.
	Mr. Mark Beard Keele University	Exploring cis-selective Pictet Spengler reactions in the total synthesis of indole alkaloids.
April 22nd	Dr. Grahame McKenzie Hull University	Pollen shells are tough customers but could be harmless and useful. The talk covers the extraction of sporopollenin exines which are the shells of pollens and spores. An outline is given relating to some of the physical and chemical properties of sporopollenin exines, in particular their physical and chemical resilience and their uniformity. Mention is made of their ability to act as microcapsules and their potential to be applied to drug deliver. Also discussed are results indicating the antioxidant properties of pollen extracts. Evidence is given to show how sporopollenin exines have been used as imaging agents in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Finally some basic chemistry of sporopollenin is covered showing derivatives for applications in such as drug delivery, solid supported synthesis and ion exchange chromatography. (More information can be found here)
May 6th	Dr. Tony Edge Astra Zeneca	High Temperature HPLC - a hot topic for LC and LC-MS.
May 13th postponed!	Prof. Matt Rosseinsky Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool	Recent advances in inorganic functional materials. Please note that this seminar has been postponed to 24th of June!
May 27th	Ms. Hannah Moore Keele University	Usefulness of Hydrocarbons within Forensic Entomology in establishing the Postmortem Interval (PMI).
June 10th	Prof Alan R. Katritzky University of Florida	Peptide and Peptide Conjugates. Alan Katritzky was born in London, U.K. and educated at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, of which he became an Honorary Fellow in 2006. He was a Founder Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, and then founding Professor/Dean of the School of Chemical Sciences at the University of East Anglia, before crossing the Atlantic in 1980 to become Kenan Professor and Director of The Center for Heterocyclic Compounds at the University of Florida. He has researched, published, lectured, and consulted widely in heterocyclic chemistry, synthetic methods, and QSPR. He created the non-for-profit foundation ARKAT and since 2000 has organized the annual ‘‘Florida Heterocyclic and Synthetic Conferences’’ (Flohet), and publishes the ‘‘Archive for Organic Chemistry’’ (Arkivoc) completely free on the Internet at arkat-usa.org. His honors from 20 countries include 14 honorary doctorates. Prof. Katritzky's WebPages can be found here
June 24th	Prof. Matt Rosseinsky DPhil, FRSC, FRS Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool	New chemistry of oxides and nanoporous materials. Metal oxides and nanoporous materials have a wide range of technological applications. This talk will address the synthesis of new metal oxides with applications as ionic and mixed conductors in solid oxide fuel cells, and the use of molecule-based nanoporous materials as reaction containers for the observation of chemical transformations. Open-framework materials families based on amino acids will be presented. Download PDF version of Abstract Prof. Rosseinsky's WebPages can be found here