Commendation for Dr Marc Hutchby - School of Chemistry

Supervisor: Professor Kevin Booker-Milburn

Funding: EPSRC Studentship

PhD project: Novel synthetic chemisty of ureas and amides

Dr Marc Hutchby's  thesis was concerned with an investigation into the chemistry an application of molecules containing urea and amide bonds. These bonds are some of the strongest known and are fundamental to biological processes. For example the very strength of the amide (peptide) bond is core to the stability and function of proteins, without which life on earth could not exist. Marc initially studied the use of ureas as C-H activating groups in palladium catalysed reactions of aromatic systems. C-H activation is currently a very important topic in chemistry as it avoids the need to use halogenated starting materials which means a significant reduction in toxic waste. Marc showed that aryl ureas were highly effective C-H activating groups and was able to report the first room-temperature examples of such a process.

During the course of this study Marc made the discovery that sterically hindered ureas undergo solvolysis (bond breaking) reactions at room temperature under neutral conditions.  This is a remarkable observation since ureas are generally inert under these conditions and a general rule of chemistry is that hindered substrates are less reactive.

Even more incredibly Marc was able to translate these finding to the corresponding sterically hindered amides, some of which underwent room temperature cleavage with half-lives of just minutes at neutral pH. Compare this to standard peptides which have solvolysis half-lives of 150-600 years under the same conditions!

Marcs thesis resulted in three publications in the top international chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie. Two of these papers were selected by the Editor as 'Hot Papers'. His groundbreaking amide paper has generated huge interest as evidenced by three news highlights in Chemical & Engineering News, Angewandte Chemie and most recently Nature.   

Biography

I grew up in Carlisle, Cumbria, a stone’s throw from the idyllic Lake District. After completing my A-Levels I went to Loughborough University to study Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry where my real passion for science and in-particular chemistry, grew. During a placement at GlaxoSmithKline I worked on the front-line of R&D, engaged in projects spanning a wide range of areas including respiratory and oncology. It was this industrial placement that confirmed to me that I wanted to do a PhD. The world-class research facilities at Bristol, along with the strong international reputation of its research staff made it an obvious place to study. I was fortunate enough to be offered a joint EPSRC-AstraZeneca funded PhD with which I spent 4 challenging but happy years within the chemistry department. All of the staff, undergraduates and fellow postgraduates made it an incredibly fun and enjoyable time. I have now moved on from the lab and am currently working as a publishing editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry on our flagship journals Chemical Science and Chemical Communications. This new role is really exciting and my knowledge of current and cutting edge research has never been broader!