Calum Ferguson

Only one month left to register for the best UK polymer conference! #chemsky

Come to RAPS in @ucl.ac.uk it's a great conference for anyone interested in polymer science. Designed for early career scientists to make new friends and share amazing science. #chemsky 🧪

Research Fellow - AR3123DD at University of St Andrews Apply for the Research Fellow - AR3123DD role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

We have a 1 year PDRA position available in our lab to work in the areas of #organometallic #chemistry, #catalysis and #polymer #synthesis/recycling. @chemjobber.bsky.social @standreschem.bsky.social Reposts appreciated. More details here www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMT735/r....

Great to see @rapsgroup.bsky.social on here! Give them a follow for details on the best early career polymer conference!

#ChemSky

This was fun to write after reading some cool chemistry published in the journals. #chemsky

Really fun to talk to the year 10s at Royal High in Bath about plastics and solar energy. Great to inspire future chemists! Had a nice ice cream on the way home as well! Bath in the sun is such a pretty place.

Thanks for the invitation! Really fun to share some of our work on photocatalytic polymers.

Chemistry PhD opportunities - Postgraduate Research Degrees School of Chemistry at The University of Birmingham PhD opportunities and postgraduate research degrees

🧪Come join us for a PhD making and studying functional molecular capsules! We have a fully funded position (UK home fees eligible only) available in the group to start in September 2025 (start date is flexible). Links 👇
www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/chem...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project... #chemsky

Flagging for #ChemSky and 🧪

A painting of a clocktower drawn from different coloured molecules.

A close up of the clocktower drawing reveals the molecules that make up the artwork.

We have unveiled this amazing picture of the iconic Old Joe clocktower by School alumnus Lucy Walker, drawn using molecules, in the foyer of our new home the Molecular Sciences Building #chemsky

Unified Hydrogen Atom Transfer Approach To Construct Vicinal Functionality Due to their prevalence in pharmaceuticals and natural products, vicinally functionalized motifs are highly sought-after. Traditionally, these fragments are synthesized from alkene precursors via oxid...

New paper from the Kim lab! #ChemSky

Developing conjugated photocatalytic polymer nanostructures for sustainable chemical organic synthesis at University of Birmingham on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Developing conjugated photocatalytic polymer nanostructures for sustainable chemical organic synthesis at University of Birmingham, listed on FindAPhD.com

📣We have an open PhD position on next-gen photocatalytic polymers for sustainable synthesis in @uobchemistry.bsky.social

🌞Are you interested in using light for organic synthesis❓

🧪Do you want to join a growing lab in a new building❓

#ChemSky #chemjob

Reposts appreciated
tinyurl.com/ckvukmea

A new chiral macrocycle which shows three-way switching of its chiroptical properties out in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social Work by @denishartmann.bsky.social in TAB Lab & fantastic collaborators at Durham University and @zwijcompchem.bsky.social at @uclchemistry.bsky.social doi.org/10.1002/anie...

Dipeptide coacervates as artificial membraneless organelles for bioorthogonal catalysis - Nature Communications Coacervate droplets have potential as components for cell-like materials, but are limited by complex molecular structure and control of the internal microenvironment. Here, the authors report stable d...

Finally, Julian investigated doing photocatalysis in dipeptide coacervates in collaboration with the group of Lucas Caire da Silva

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In collaboration with Thomas Kuckhoff, Julian investigated comonomer effects in vinyl-based photocatalytic polymers.

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Tunable Photocatalytic Selectivity by Altering the Active Center Microenvironment of an Organic Polymer Photocatalyst The favored production of one product over another is a major challenge in synthetic chemistry, reducing the formation of byproducts and enhancing atom efficacy. The formation of catalytic species that have differing reactivities based on the substrate being converted, has been targeted to selectively control reactions. Here, we report the production of photocatalytic self-assembled amphiphilic polymers, with either hydrophilic or hydrophobic microenvironments at the reactive center. Benzothiadiazole-based photocatalysts were polymerized into either the hydrophilic or the hydrophobic compartment of a diblock copolymer by RAFT polymerization. The difference in the reactivity of each microenvironment was dictated by the physical properties of the substrate. Stark differences in reactivity were observed for polar substrates, where a hydrophilic microenvironment was favored. Conversely, both microenvironments performed similarly for very hydrophobic substrates, showing that reagent partitioning is not the only factor that drives photocatalytic conversion. Furthermore, the use of secondary swelling solvents allowed an additional reagent exchange between the continuous phase and the heterogeneous photocatalyst, resulting in a significant 5-fold increase in conversion for a radical carbon–carbon coupling.

Julian's second paper investigated how hydrophilic and hydrophobic microenvironments affect photocatalysis. Spoilers: it makes a big difference.

pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Juian's first paper was a minireview of photocatalytic nanoparticles, which was published as part of the emerging investigator issue of Nanoscale. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Congratulations to Dr Julian Heuer, who graduated in December. He is the final PhD from my group in @mpip-mainz.mpg.de and the landfester department. #Chemsky check out a thread of Julian's published work!

Ever wanted to know which of the UK "premium" supermarkets has the best mince pie? Well, floor 2 of the Molecular Sciences Building @uobchemistry.bsky.social has been doing the hard graft this week to answer that question. The clear winner is M&S!

Size‐Dependent Photocatalytic Reactivity of Conjugated Microporous Polymer Nanoparticles Decreasing the size of conjugated microporous polymer (CMP) nanoparticles is proposed to overcome diffusional resistance of substrates in the porous polymer photocatalysts and improve energy efficien....

Following this, he undertook the herculean task of investigating how size affects photocatalytic efficiency in conjugated microporous polymer nanoparticles. This work was published this year in Advanced Materials.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

His first paper, published in ACS Nano, describes hairy conjugated nanoparticle photocatalysts. These nanomaterials can be dispersed in a wide range of solvents and show improved photocatalytic efficiency.

pubs.acs.org/doi/epdf/10....

Congratulations to Seunghyeon Kim (@seunghyeonkim.bsky.social) on his new position as an Assistant Professor at DGIST S. Korea. I couldn't have managed the group in Germany without him! He is a fantastic scientist and will be a great academic. #chemsky

Here is a thread of his work at MPIP.

Exciting things to come from this new lab! Prof. Kim does elegant work analyzing reaction mechanisms and transport phenomena and students will greatly benefit from learning from him! His latest paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... Congrats to DGIST on an excellent hiring decision.

#chemsky

Thrilled to announce that I will be joining the Dept. of Energy Science and Engineering at DGIST 🇰🇷 as an Assistant Professor in Feb 2025. Deeply grateful to my mentors (@sikeslab.bsky.social Prof. Landfester @ctjferguson.bsky.social) for their invaluable guidance and support throughout this journey.

Tailoring reactive handles on the surface of nanoparticles for covalent conjugation of biomolecules Surface modification of nanoparticles involves numerous types of active molecules such as DNA, antibodies, enzymes, or carbohydrates. These modifications usually require reactive handles like amines, ...

Excited to be sharing my first post to announce my first first author paper!
So happy with all these firsts!
In the paper we explore functional groups from total, to visible and finally accessible groups that can actually be utilised for surface functionalization.

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Finally, Rong created magnetically responsive photocatalysts by encapsulating magnetite in a photocatalytic polymer. Polymer International has accepted this work as part of the Kai Zhang Memorial Issue, but it is not yet available online.

Next, Rong investigated therapeutic applications of pH-responsive photocatalysts that activate upon pH transitions found in tumour environments and enable
photocatalytic activation of prodrugs.

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

pH‐Triggered Recovery of Organic Polymer Photocatalytic Particles for the Production of High Value Compounds and Enhanced Recyclability Photocatalytic nanoparticles are presented that are active and well-dispersed under acidic conditions but aggregate instantly upon elevation of pH. These responsive photocatalytic polymers can be use...

Rong then went to look at new photocatalytic polymers that could easily be recycled using pH changes to trigger aggregation. Interestingly, the cationic microenvironment increased the conversion of anionic substrates using electrostatics to drive diffusion.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Temperature‐ and pH‐Responsive Polymeric Photocatalysts for Enhanced Control and Recovery Stimuli-responsive photocatalytic materials have emerged that are not only able to efficiently catalyze reactions but can use external stimuli to modulate their physical properties. This technique ha...

At the beginning of her PhD (Covid fun), Rong wrote a nice review on thermal and pH-responsive photocatalysts. Looking at how these external stimuli can regulate photocatalytic activity and trigger recovery.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....