Willcox Research Group

Darren obtained his MSci degree from the University of Nottingham in 2010. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree, he remained at the University of Nottingham to carry out a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Simon Woodward. His doctoral research focused on the synthesis and application of air-stabilized aluminium hydrides and mechanistic investigations into the asymmetric copper-catalyzed conjugate addition of organoaluminium and zinc reagents. After completing his PhD in 2014, he moved to the University of Cambridge to work in the group of Prof. Matthew Gaunt as a postdoctoral research associate, working on the development of palladium-catalyzed C–H activation and photoredox catalysis towards complex amine synthesis. In January 2019 he moved to tCardiff University to work as a postdoctoral research associate in the group of Dr Rebecca Melen, focusing on the development of novel frustrated Lewis pair chemistry. In December 2019, Darren commenced his independent research career as a lecturer in inorganic chemistry the Department of Chemistry at the University of Manchester.