Chemistry seminars
Find out about all of the upcoming seminars in the Department of Chemistry.
Autumn-Winter 2025-26
Departmental Seminars are generally held on Wednesdays. Please always check the time as it might change for some speakers.
- October
Departmental Seminar: Optical microcavity sensors: from the lab to the river
1 October 12:00 DB-LT01
Speakers:
(University of Oxford)
Contact:Abstract
Optical microcavities are small structures that trap light through multiple reflections. When combined with spectroscopic measurements they provide a signal amplification of several orders of magnitude, enabling the development of miniaturised optical sensors with very low power and reagent requirements. I will start by explaining how optical microcavities work and how they can be used in applications ranging from refractive index and absorption spectroscopy measurements to micron-scale dye lasers and dosimeters for nanomedicines. I will also talk about the journey (so far) to commercialisation of the technology via a new spin-out company, Mode Labs, which is developing remotely deployable environmental sensors to provide accurate real-time data on river water quality.
Departmental Seminar: Discovery of new enzymes and pathways for sustainable (bio)synthesis
8 October 12:00 DB-LT01
Speaker:
(Imperial College)Contact: Prof Nadav Amdursky
Abstract
Jason's lab discovers novel enzymes from unusual bacteria in nature. They characterise these enzymes to determine their structures and mechanisms. With this knowledge, they are able to re-programme the enzymes to create variants that can catalyse new reactions. These engineered enzymes are used to produce novel antibiotics to combat antimicrobial resistance, antiviral agents, anticancer agents and other useful molecules.
Key references:
Torri et al Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 64, e202422185 (https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202422185);
Xu et al Nature Chem Biol 2024, 20, 1371–1379 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-024-01657-7);
Bering et al Nature Commun. 2022, 13, 380. (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28005-4).
Winn et al. Nature 2021, 593, 391–398. (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03447-w);
Thong et al. Nature Commun 2021, 12, 6872. (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27139-1);
Craven et al. Nature Catalysis 2021, 4, 385–394. (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-021-00603-3).Departmental Seminar: Modular Synthesis and Machine Learning for the Discovery of Novel Metalloantibiotics
15 October 12:00 DB-LT-01
Speaker:
(University of York)Contact: Prof Jim Thomas
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is already causing over 1 million deaths each year. With the clinical pipeline for novel antibiotics with new modes of actions very sparse, this number is expected to further increase in the coming years. As conventional approaches to bacterial infections are failing to provide novel and effective drugs, alternative treatment modalities need to be considered. Over the last decade, metal-based compounds (metalloantibiotics), have emerged as potential new classes of antimicrobial agents. In this talk I highlight the promise of transition metal complexes as antimicrobial agents and how we employ modular synthesis, automation and machine learning to systematically explore this vast chemical space for promising compounds. This includes our recent training of machine learning models able to increase the hit-rate for Gram-positive active ruthenium metalloantibiotics by a factor of 5x and very new work to expand high-throughput modular metal complex synthesis to novel ligand scaffolds.
Departmental Seminar: Nucleic acid conjugates: remote control, targeting, and entirely new functions
22 October, 12:00 DB-LT01
Speaker:
(Uniiversity College London)Contact: Prof Nick Turner
Abstract
We are entering the age of nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) technologies. DNA and RNA form the basis for many therapeutic and experimental technologies, including gene editing and silencing, several aspects of nanotechnology, aptamers and their applications, and cell-free gene expression. However, their application is limited by the chemistry of nucleic acids. A major goal of the Booth group is the generation of nucleic acid conjugates to overcome current major challenges in their delivery and targeting, and to produce entirely new functions to increase their therapeutic potential. Controlling nucleic acid function would greatly expand their application in biology and medicine, by reducing toxic on/off-target effects. To this end, we have generated remote-controlled nucleic acids under the control of orthogonal wavelengths of light (JACS, Chem. Sci.) and magnetism (Nat. Chem.). These controllable nucleic acids have also been applied in synthetic cells to control their communication with living cells (Nat. Chem. Biol.). Antisense oligonucleotides, short single stranded synthetic oligos, are the predominant form of nucleic acid therapeutics in the clinic. However, despite their success, approved ASOs target a narrow spectrum of diseases and their key mechanisms of action are predominantly localised within the nucleus. We have attached a nuclear importer to improve their activity in the nucleus (JACS) and developed a new mechanism of action for targeted mRNA degradation in the cytoplasm (Chem. Sci.). These nucleic acid conjugates will form the basis of a whole new suite of targeted therapeutics and technologies for basic research.
Departmental Seminar: Complementary tools for in situ analysis of porous materials – some perspectives
29 October, 12:00 DB-LT01
Speaker: Prof Len Barbour
(University of Lincoln )Contact: Dr Jona Foster
Abstract
The inclusion of small guest molecules into porous crystalline materials promises several exciting innovations in a wide range of areas, including separation and storage of gases or vapours, chemical sensing, and catalysis. Using now well-established principles of crystal engineering we can aspire to design porous materials with tailored structural and physical properties. However, there is still a need to develop new approaches to understanding the sometimes-complicated relationships between molecular-level structure and physico-chemical properties. In this regard, devising a range of complementary experiments to characterize materials under controlled environments such as gas pressure can be particularly challenging. This presentation will describe the development and application of a suite of approaches to structural analysis by means of in situ X-ray diffraction, complemented by physicochemical characterization using a combination of sorption analysis and thermoanalytical techniques.
- November
Departmental Seminar: Synthetic Information Molecules
5 November 12:00 DB-LT01
Speaker:
(University of Cambridge)
Contact: Prof Graham LeggettAbstract
The encoded recognition properties of nucleic acids are currently unrivalled in any other material. High fidelity sequence-selective duplex formation is the molecular basis for replication of the genetic information encoded by DNA and is finding widespread applications in the programmed assembly of complex nucleic acid nanostructures. We have been investigating the sequence-selective duplex formation and replication of synthetic recognition-encoded oligomers that bear no resemblance to the natural system. This talk will describe examples of different polymer architectures developed in our laboratory, highlighting the key supramolecular design principles that govern the competition between folding and duplex assembly and the requirements for high fidelity sequence information transfer between a template and copy strand.
Departmental Seminar: The discovery of selective P2Y2 receptor antagonists
12 November 12:00 DB-LT01
Speaker:
(University of Nottingham)
Contact: Dr Fadi SoukariehAbstract
The seminar will discuss the discovery and synthesis of new, non-nucleotide based P2Y2 receptor antagonists and their potential use in drug discovery programs.
Departmental Seminar: Designing Polymers with the End in Mind: Creating circular routes to polymers using light-based strategies
19 November 12:00 DB-LT01
Speaker:
(University of Birmingham)Contact: Prof Steve Armes FRS
Abstract
One of the unresolved consequences of the massive global production of plastic is the lack of proper waste management. As a consequence of technological limitations as well as inefficient collection and sorting methods, current recycling schemes are underperforming. In part this is a result of the inherent linear design of our polymer systems, and lack of consideration of waste management and environmental impact of the waste that does escape into the environment, at the polymer design stage. We, among others, are focussing on creating tools that could be applied to design polymers ‘with the end in mind’ – i.e. to incorporate chemical bonding that can be easily processed to make polymers but readily reversed either ‘on demand’ for recycling, or upon exposure to environmental triggers. To this end, we have focussed on two different aspects of this challenge: (1) to design photoset materials that can be processed by advanced methods such as additive manufacturing that are sustainably sourced but can be readily circularised in a closed loop process and (2) to apply efficient click chemistries for the synthesis of polymers that not only have useful properties and inherent recyclability but also degrade to specific and predictable, non-toxic by products upon exposure to light.
Departmental Seminar: Fundamental Forces at Near Touching Interfaces
26 November 12:00 DB-LT01
Speaker:
(University of Nottingham )
Contact:Abstract
When charged interfaces are near touching, electrostatic interactions exhibit a counter-intuitive behaviour leading to both attractive and repulsive forces regardless of the sign of charge on the interfaces. In this talk, we will demonstrate and discuss these complex electrostatic phenomena in a variety of physical and chemical scenarios. We will further extend these studies to include the Casimir effects between near touching neutral interfaces, which are quantum mechanical in nature as they stem from the permanent existence of fluctuating fields on either side of the quantum cavity created between the interfaces. Due to the lack of sophisticated instrumentation capable of measuring these subtle changes in electrostatic and Casimir force, these effects remained experimentally elusive for many years, drawing little interest outside the theoretical community. However, with the recent rise of research in high-resolution force measurements, plasmonics, and metamaterials, the explosive potential of the electrostatic and Casimir effects has become apparent showing that these forces can be manipulated and investigated at the unprecedented level of accuracy and versatility.
- December
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3 December 12:00 DB-LT01
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10 December 12:00 DB-LT01
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17 December 12:00 DB-LT01
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Spring-Summer 2025-26
- January
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28 January 12:00 DB-LT01
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28 January 12:00 DB-LT01
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- February
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4 February 12:00 DB-LT01
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11 February 12:00 DB-LT01
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18 February 12:00 DB-LT01
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25 February 16:00 DB-LT01
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- March
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4 March 12:00 DB-LT01
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11 March 12:00 DB-LT01
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18 March 12:00 DB-LT01
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25 March 12:00 DB-LT01
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TBA- April
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22 April 12:00 DB-LT01
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29 April 12:00 DB-LT01
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- May
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6 May 12:00 DB-LT01
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13 May 12:00 DB-LT01
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20 May 12:00 DB-LT-01
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TBA- June
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3 June 12:00 DB-LT01
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10 June 12:00 DB-LT01
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