Synthesis underlies all aspects of chemistry; the design, creation and study of molecules and materials are at the heart of research activity across all areas of chemistry.

The Synthetic Chemistry team at Lancaster represents a broad and complementary capability with expertise in organic, organometallic and materials synthesis which is augmented with our work on coordination and supramolecular chemistry.

We use our expanding research facilities to aid us in the preparation, characterisation and investigation of the properties of novel compounds, as well as the elucidation of mechanistic pathways. Our work is not limited to fundamental research, but is aimed to be of use in a wide range of real-world applications.

Current active research projects include:

• Novel catalytic methods for C-C bond formation
• Synthesis of biocompatible and biodegradable polymers
• Imaging agents based on metal complexes
• Molecular hosts for ionic guest recognition
• Sensory and micro-actuator liquid crystals