In the Hicks group, we are first and foremost synthetic organometallic chemists. However, unlike ‘traditional’ organometallic chemists that often focus on the late transition metals, we specialised in the chemistry of the more abundant metals of the periodic table. These include a large number of the main group elements (such as magnesium, calcium and aluminium) as well as a number of the first-row transition metals (for example iron, copper and zinc).

In our current research, we are targeting high profile reactions that are typically associated with late transition metal catalysts, for example C–H activation, C–C coupling and small molecule activation. However, we are performing these using much more abundant, environmentally benign metals to develop more sustainable routes to chemical synthesis.