Jake Painter, a fourth-year PhD student in the Bower Research Group at the University of Liverpool, has won the poster prize at the New Frontiers in Synthetic Chemistry conference, held on 21st November 2024.
The conference, organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in collaboration with AstraZeneca, brings together researchers from academia and industry to showcase advances in synthetic chemistry and explore future developments in the field.
Jake’s research focuses on developing bench-stable, functionalisable isocyanate precursors with applications in medicinal chemistry. His work, which includes a collaboration with the Cooper Group, utilises AI and automation to optimise reactions involving these innovative compounds.
His award-winning poster summarises his PhD project, which investigates 1,3-diazpane-2,4-diones as bench-stable, non-toxic isocyanate precursors. These compounds undergo a ring contraction process upon heating to produce isocyanates without requiring toxic or explosive intermediates, offering a safer solution for synthesising structurally complex isocyanates for synthetic and medicinal chemistry.
Commenting on the conference, Jake said:
“Attending the New Frontiers in Synthetic Chemistry conference was a great opportunity to network with my peers and hear about amazing chemistry from industry and academia! I would recommend anyone who is interested to attend next year!”
This recognition adds to an outstanding year for Jake, who was also awarded the Syngenta Scholarship earlier in 2024. Learn more about it here.