九州影院

Varinder Aggarwal has developed new chemical methods to assemble complex, biologically important molecules. His research includes new ways of speeding up, or catalysing chemical reactions, developing new classes of reagents for iterative synthesis, and applications of these methods in medicine, such as helping to provide more effective routes to potential vaccines against tuberculosis.

Although many organic molecules occur in 鈥榬ight-handed鈥� and 鈥榣eft-handed鈥� forms, invariably just one of these is seen in living organisms. Normally, however, chemical reactions make both forms in equal amounts. Varinder鈥檚 work on asymmetric synthesis allows him to make one form selectively which has important applications in drug design and synthesis.

Biography

Professor Varinder Aggarwal FRSC studied chemistry at Cambridge University and received his PhD in 1986 under the guidance of Dr Stuart Warren. After postdoctoral studies (1986鈥�1988) under Professor Gilbert Stork, Columbia University, he returned to the UK as a lecturer at the University of Bath. In 1991, he moved to the University of Sheffield, where he was promoted to Professor in 1997. In 2000, he moved to the University of Bristol, where he holds the chair in synthetic chemistry. Apart from chemistry, his interests include running, cycling, yoga, table tennis, cinema and theatre.

Varinder is a renowned organic chemist who has developed new chemical methods to assemble complex, biologically important molecules. His research includes new catalytic asymmetric methods, developing new classes of reagents for iterative synthesis, and applications of these methods in the synthesis of complex molecules.

Early on his career, he showed how to convert the stoichiometric sulfur ylide epoxidation methodology into a catalytic and asymmetric process, and provided a set of rules that govern both diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity in this important reaction.

He later discovered new asymmetric reactions between sulfur ylides/lithiated carbamates and organoboranes/boronic esters which lead to homologated organoboron products in high enantioselectivity including tertiary boronic esters, reactions that could be used iteratively. This work has been particularly impactful, enabling complex molecules to be assembled in few steps and with very high stereocontrol. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2012.

I love the unexpected. When reactions take a different course to the one you had expected. It shows our limited knowledge and understanding and it often leads to new discoveries.

Professor Varinder Aggarwal