A range of photochemically generated tri- and tetracyclic vinyl aziridines have been found to undergo a general and surprisingly low temperature ring opening through a [1,5]-hydrogen shift reaction. The rate of the process was found to be highly dependent on the structure and substitution around the azirdine ring and the alkene terminus, with some substrates being observed to undergo ring opening at temperatures as low as 25 °C. The rigid nature of these polycyclic systems precludes a conformational explanation of these rate differences, and an Eyring study confirmed a negligible entropic barrier to the reaction. However, the Eyring plots for two different aziridines systems showed a significant difference in their enthalpies of activation. It is therefore believed that the levels of aziridine ring strain, as well as electronic effects, are the dominant factors in this sequence.

Polyheterocycles are found in many natural products and are useful moieties in functional materials and drug design. As part of a program towards the synthesis of Stemona alkaloids, a novel palladium(II)-catalyzed CH activation strategy for the construction of such systems has been developed. Starting from simple 1,3-dienyl-substituted heterocycles, a large range of polycyclic systems containing pyrrole, indole, furan and thiophene moieties can be synthesized in a single step.

Polyheterocycles are found in many natural products and are useful moieties in functional materials and drug design. As part of a program towards the synthesis of Stemona alkaloids, a novel palladium(II)-catalyzed CH activation strategy for the construction of such systems has been developed. Starting from simple 1,3-dienyl-substituted heterocycles, a large range of polycyclic systems containing pyrrole, indole, furan and thiophene moieties can be synthesized in a single step.

Fused cyclobutenes, prepared by the photocycloaddition of propargyl alcohols to cyclic anhydride chromophores, undergo facile thermochemical ring opening to fused γ-lactones. The size of the fused ring profoundly influences the temperature that is required to facilitate the ring opening (from 50 °C to 180 °C) and the nature of the product that is formed. Our studies provide new insights into the mechanistic course of these reactions and have been extended to facilitate the preparation of lactams fused to medium-sized rings.

Fused cyclobutenes, prepared by the photocycloaddition of propargyl alcohols to cyclic anhydride chromophores, undergo facile thermochemical ring opening to fused γ-lactones. The size of the fused ring profoundly influences the temperature that is required to facilitate the ring opening (from 50 °C to 180 °C) and the nature of the product that is formed. Our studies provide new insights into the mechanistic course of these reactions and have been extended to facilitate the preparation of lactams fused to medium-sized rings.

The use of flow photochemistry and its apparent superiority over batch has been reported by a number of groups in recent years. To rigorously determine whether flow does indeed have an advantage over batch, a broad range of synthetic photochemical transformations were optimized in both reactor modes and their yields and productivities compared. Surprisingly, yields were essentially identical in all comparative cases. Even more revealing was the observation that the productivity of flow reactors varied very little to that of their batch counterparts when the key reaction parameters were matched. Those with a single layer of fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) had an average productivity 20 % lower than that of batch, whereas three-layer reactors were 20 % more productive. Finally, the utility of flow chemistry was demonstrated in the scale-up of the ring-opening reaction of a potentially explosive [1.1.1] propellane with butane-2,3-dione.