PhD Studentship - Synthesis and Applications of Chiral Molecular Machines

Project description

Are you an enthusiastic young scientist with excellent work ethic and organisational skills? Do you want to carry out cutting edge synthetic organic chemistry research, working at the interface between molecular chirality and molecular machines? Are you an EU citizen with a first or upper second-class degree (or equivalent) in Chemistry? If so, there is a PhD position available to start in September 2018 or before for an outstanding candidate in the group of Professor Steve Goldup at the University of Southampton.

Mechanically chiral catenanes and rotaxanes are molecules in which the mechanical bond between two or more components is the source of asymmetry rather than the covalent structure of the components themselves. These unusual molecules represent a novel and unexplored chiral environment because the lack of a scalable synthetic approach for their isolation in enantiopure form has prevented all but the most cursory investigation of their properties. Thus, mechanical chirality remains an unexplored frontier of molecular asymmetry with the potential to deliver novel functions and impact across a range of chemical disciplines from materials chemistry to the synthesis of pharmaceutically active compounds.

We have recently demonstrated the first practical method for the synthesis of enantiopure mechanically chiral rotaxanes and topologically chiral catenanes using a flexible active template methodology and thus the stage is finally set for the study and exploitation of this novel form of molecular asymmetry. The successful candidate will join a research team applying our group's recently developed methodology for the synthesis of mechanically chiral molecules to investigate their properties and applications in catalysis, sensing and materials.

For recent relevant papers and an overview of the field see:

Mechanical chirality: https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CS00097B , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chempr.2019.03.008 ; https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201808990

Rotaxane catalysts: https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201505464 , https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.9701789.v1

Rotaxane materials: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.6b08958

The active template approach: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41570-017-0061

Training will be provided in a range of modern organic and inorganic synthetic techniques and analytical methods in a world leading interdisciplinary research environment. You will also have opportunities to develop your supervisory, written and oral communication skills, excellent preparation for a career in academia or industry. Group members are expected to present their published work at national and international conferences and funding is available to support this.

The Goldup Group is based in the modern synthetic chemistry laboratories in the School of Chemistry at the University of Southampton. Support for synthetic chemistry is excellent with world class MS, NMR and X-ray facilities, each supported by dedicated specialist staff. For more information see: http://goldup.soton.ac.uk

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Prof Goldup, FIMS Research Group, Email: s.goldup@soton.ac.uk .

Entry Requirements

A very good undergraduate degree (at least a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent).

Closing date: applications should be received no later than 01 December 2019 for standard admissions, but later applications may be considered depending on the funds remaining in place.

Funding: full tuition plus, for UK students, an enhanced stipend of £15,009 tax-free per annum for up to 3.5 years.

For further information please contact: feps-pgr-apply@soton.ac.uk