Molecular Bonding and Spectroscopy

sample prep-nmrc-880x388

Molecules – the fundamental building blocks of materials and living organisms (including humans) are invisibly tiny, with more than 250,000 H₂O molecules required to span the diameter of a single strand of hair. Our research makes molecules tangible by building bridges to the molecular world that reveal molecular structure and function, explaining why molecules interact with each other, with surfaces, or with radiation, and making clear how they react in chemical reactions.

We invent a variety of experimental and theoretical methods, and develop instrumentation that allows the study of molecules in gasses, solids or liquids, adsorbed on surfaces, or entrapped in pores. This fundamental knowledge is vitally important for solving challenges across a broad range of chemistry topics, including the discovery of materials, sustainable catalysis, and new functional devices.

Our Research

“What would happen if we could arrange atoms one by one the way we want them?” wondered Richard Feynman as early as 1959. Instead of tiny tools dreamt by Feynman, chemists probe and manipulate molecules with lasers, X-rays, or beams of fast particles.

In this way, spectra, diffractograms, or images unveil molecular composition, structure, and dynamic behaviour. Similarly, light, heat, electric current, X-rays, or electron beams applied to molecules trigger chemical reactions by exciting vibrations or rotations, ionising them or even breaking interatomic bonds directly.

This allows us to study molecules ‘in action’ and, combined with theoretical modelling, our powerful approach sheds light on the private lives of molecules in chemical reactions.

Our core research, aimed at the fundamental understanding of molecular structure, function, and reactivity, is heavily reliant on our innovations in analytical chemistry, utilising different types of spectroscopy and microscopy, all underpinned by a deep specialism in quantum chemistry, density functional theory, and statistical thermodynamics methods, along with our rich expertise in the preparation of several specialist materials, including ionic liquids, coordination compounds, molecular monolayers, graphene, nanotubes, and nanoparticles.

Our Research Theme centres on the unravelling of the most fundamental mysteries of chemistry.

Members:

Staff Finder

Structures and single atoms-1000x665

Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)1000x666

Spotlights

A recent publication led by Dr Jesum Alves Fernandes, with Professor Pete Licence, Professor Andrei Khlobystov, and Dr Graham Rance, in the high impact journal Nature Communications.

A recent publication between the MBS and Materials theme featuring Professor Andrei Khlobystov, Dr Graham Rance, Dr Lee Johnson, Dr. Darren Walsh, and Dr Graham Newton, in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

A collaborative publication between Professor Mike George and Professor David Salt, School of Biosciences, in the high impact journal of Nature Communications.

Recent Publications

Ahn, S., Zor, C., Yang, S., Lagnoni, M., Dewar, D., Nimmo, T., …Bruce, P. G. Nature Chemistry 2023.

Summers, H. S., Lewis, W., Williams, H. E. L., Bradshaw, T. D., Moody, C. J., & Stevens, M. F. G. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 257, Article 115507 2023

Chio, H., Guest, E. E., Hobman, J. L., Dottorini, T., Hirst, J. D., & Stekel, D. J. Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling, 123, Article 108508. 2023

Boobier, S., Davies, J. C., Derbenev, I. N., Handley, C. M., & Hirst, J. D. Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, 63(10), 2895–2901.2023

Volkov, V. V., Blundell, T. J., Argent, S., & Perry, C. C. Dalton Transactions, 52(21), 7249-7257. 2023

Postgraduate research

Depending on the research group, your project may involve a combination of analytical method development, synthesis of specific molecules or nanomaterials, and theoretical modelling.

We offer a wide range of research projects studying structure, function and reactivity of different molecules by advanced methods: