Research Research Areas Organic chemistry toc About Organic substances are everywhere: they are the basis of all life forms and central to our heath and wellbeing. Organic chemistry is the study of the structure, properties and syntheses of carbon-containing compounds, and includes both compounds produced by living organisms as well as designed molecules. The range of application of organic compounds is enormous. The very foundations of biochemistry, biotechnology, and medicine are built on organic compounds and their role in life processes. Most modern, high-tech materials are at least partially composed of organic compounds. Organic chemists at all levels are employed by pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, consumer product, food and petroleum industries. Groups Hill Group Our work covers organometallic chemistry with a particular focus include unsaturated ligands involving metal–carbon multiple bonding. View the group Humphrey Group Our research uses synthesis, spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and computational chemistry to generate new molecular materials with unusual optical properties. View the group Malins Group The Malins group develops synthetic tools for small molecule, peptide and protein synthesis, including for applications in chemical biology and drug discovery. View the group McLeod Group The McLeod group employs a wide range of techniques to study drug metabolism. View the group Nitsche Group We develop chemical tools to target, manipulate and study peptides and proteins related to infectious diseases. View the group Norcott Group The Norcott group research interest centres on using organic synthesis and reactivity to design new, functional molecules with important purposes. View the group Sherburn Group Our research program involves the design of sequences of cycloaddition reactions, free radical reactions and transition metal-mediated reactions View the group White Group Our research focuses on supramolecular chemistry – the chemistry of non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding and coordination bonds. View the group Facilities Separation and Reaction Facility (SRF) Providing synthetic and separative solutions to the RSC View the facility Projects A new spin on hydrogen: supercharging NMR Hydrogen is well recognized for its potential as a future energy source – but few people are aware of another remarkable ability of the simple H2 molecule. The challenge is this: how can we incorporate para-hydrogen into molecules? Read more Student intake Open for Honours, Master, PhD, Summer scholar students Read more A Trojan horse to combat malaria Our goal is to develop an anti-malarial Trojan horse that will deliver a chemical payload to the malaria parasite that it cannot avoid, thus limiting the potential for resistance. Read more Student intake Open for Honours, Master, PhD, Summer scholar students Read more Accessing Designer Peptides Using Electro-Organic Synthesis This project will explore additional opportunities for the efficient electrochemical modification of peptides, including through the use of novel “electrochemically-active” amino acids. Read more Student intake Open for Honours, Master, PhD, Summer scholar students Read more Anti-doping chemistry and designer steroids This project will combine analytical and synthetic chemistry to study the metabolic fate and biological activity arising from designer steroids use, with the goal of developing assays to detect the abuse of these agents in sport. Read more Student intake Open for Honours, Master, PhD, Summer scholar students Read more Big and Small Chains of Carbon We are studying compounds in which a single atom of carbon is held between two metal centres LnM=C=MLn. In most cases the M=C=M spine is linear but we have recently isolated the first examples where the carbon is bent and displays nucleophilic character. Read more Student intake Open for Honours, Master, PhD, Summer scholar students Read more Biocompatible synthesis of bicyclic peptides This project will capitalise on these achievements and explore biocompatible synthetic routes to various kinds of bicycles and their applications in drug discovery. Read more Student intake Open for Honours, Master, PhD, Summer scholar students Read more Load more Members Emeritus and Honorary Dr Lee Alissandratos Honorary Lecturer Prof. Michelle Coote Honorary Professor Prof. Chris Easton Emeritus Professor Academic staff Prof. Anthony Hill Professor Prof. Mark Humphrey Professor Prof. Lara Malins ProfessorWestpac Research Fellow Prof. Malcolm McLeod Associate Professor A/Prof. Christoph Nitsche Associate ProfessorARC Future Fellow Prof. Michael Sherburn Associate Director (Education)Professor A/ Prof. Nicholas White Associate ProfessorAustralian Research Council Future Fellow Articles 'Fighting antibiotic resistance takes guts' Fighting antibiotic resistance takes guts. Dr Lara Malins discusses her research into antibiotic resistance. Read the article Congratulations Nick White - ARC Future Fellowship Congratulations to Dr Nick White who has been awarded an ARC Future Fellowship. This is fantastic news, and a tribute to all of Nick’s hard work and achievements in supramolecular chemistry. Read the article toc
