Zinc Redox Catalysis in the Photochemical Borylation of Fluorocarbons. New @chemrxiv.org preprint from @upwinder.bsky.social and the team. chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10....

We have some more work out in @chemrxiv.org on the recycling of fluoropolymers. chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.... This one using shuttle catalysis to form acyl fluorides from PVDF, PVF, HFP-PVDF and ETFE - including post-consumer materials @shannonesf.bsky.social

**New Blog Post** Lots of students don't know what a PhD is or how to apply for one. This is my attempt to set out the key points. Very open to edits if anyone has suggestions. www.michaeloneill.org/blog-1/2026/3/27/what-is-a-phd-a-primer-for-curious-students

We have a new @chemrxiv.org preprint out describing the first silicon containing spiropentane and its rearrangement to a cyclobutane. chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10..... Congrats to @upwinder.bsky.social and @benedekstdlr.bsky.social

Some of our collaborative work with Phil Miller and @basf.bsky.social studying the mechanism of the photocatalysed aminocarbonylation of aryl halides is now out as a @chemrxiv.org preprint. Huge effort from Rowan Bailey to understand and improve this reaction. chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.....

Now online and open access: Article by Sjoerd Harder & co-workers @harder-research.bsky.social Molecular low-oxidation-state chemistry with tetra-anionic group 14 elements www.nature.com/articles/s44... #Chemsky

Last week: homogeneous redox-catalysis with Al(I)-Al(III) (Leo Liu Lab) Now: heterogeneous alkene hydrogenation with Al(0), earth’s most abundant metal. Observations and calculations point to reactivity at the metal surface. Preprint: shorturl.at/I9R0B Main group power 👍

Matt, Imogen and Mickey’s paper detailing the synthesis and reactivity of the first neutral Al(I) trimer is out now in @natcomms.nature.com! Check it out here along with @mattdv-t.bsky.social’s ‘behind the paper’ article!

Registration is now open for the 2026 RSC (@rsc.org) Main Group Interest Group Conference: www.rsc.org/events/detai... The meeting will be taking place on the 8-9th April 2026 at the University of Edinburgh, showcasing a breadth of inorganic/main group chemistry- We would love to see you there.

While traditionally used as stoichiometric reagents, #HeavierAlkaliMetalAmides have emerged as versatile #catalysts find out more in this #perspective with #DavidSancehzRoa @pubs.acs.org in collaboration with @remglasgow.bsky.social @unistrathclyde.bsky.social pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Only two days left to apply to this PDRA position in our group @imperialchemistry.bsky.social!

See below for the latest from @alvarogarciaromero.bsky.social. We describe the reversible, redox-neutral carbometallation of a phospha-alkyne to afford a mono-coordinate indium(I) compound. Indium(I) to indium(I), and back again. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Currently advertising a three-year PDRA position in organometallic chemistry. Come and work with us @imperialchemistry.bsky.social: www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

FINALLY a complex of type LMg-CaL! This formally Mg(0)-Ca(II) complex shows a very long Mg-Ca bond with Mg(-)/Ca(+) polarization and is quite reactive! Our first 2026 paper is "In dear memory of Herbert Roesky" shorturl.at/tvi0C

We're Hiring! If you are interested in a PDRA post with the Mehta group, please apply! @ox.ac.uk @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

The group will soon be advertising a 3-year PDRA position @imperialchemistry.bsky.social. The successful candidate will research the synthesis and reactivity of complexes with alkaline earth-metal bonds. Start date: 03/26. Please get in touch for infomal inquries.

📣Our new paper is out in @jacs.acspublications.org (our very first one)!🥳 We show how a redox-active ligand unlocks C–X bond scission at an ambiphilic T-shaped Bi(III) compound. A big collaborative effort with my brilliant colleagues from Berlin. 👉 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Just out over the holidays. The latest from the group and first author Alexis Bauer on some fun iron-silyl chemistry. Check it out. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Here's our first preprint of 2026. Selective, catalytic hydroboration of carbon–carbon bonds of strained cyclobutanes with magnesium complexes. chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr.... Some interesting mechanistic twists in this one. Congrats to @upwinder.bsky.social Joe Parr and Esther Raga.

Liverpool is hiring for a Professor who would also be Head of Chemistry. Application deadline Jan 4th. Interviews Feb 5th. I really like it here; maybe you would, too. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPQ019/p...

Incredibly grateful to @royalsociety.org for the award of a URF to support our research on alkaline earth metal-metal bonding!

This week's Chemical Science Pick of the Week is "All-Boron Analogue of Planar Benzene on an Osmium Template" by Eluvathingal Jemmis and Sundargopal Ghosh et al. from IIT Madras and IISc Bangalore. Read it for free here: doi.org/10.1039/D5SC...

We are advertising for two PhD studentships in organometallic chemistry! Come and work with us @imperialchemistry.bsky.social from October 2026: Advert 2) www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

We are advertising for two PhD studentships in organometallic chemistry! Come and work with us @imperialchemistry.bsky.social from October 2026: Advert 1) www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

It's been one year since my blog on the closure of Hull, which kind of blew up. A thread with some reflections on what's happened since then. 1/ www.michaeloneill.org/blog-1/2024/...

Excited to share our new preprint! 🥳 We developed a modular strategy to access small four-membered biradicaloids by trapping them in Mn and Co complexes. Many congratulations to Stefan and Michi for their successful efforts !

Thrilled to share the work of @clarencetankl.bsky.social and @antorna.bsky.social on elevating #sodium mediated deprotonative #borylation to #catalytic regimes with an insightful #mechanistic study in collaboration with Max Garcia Melchor @pubs.acs.org @unibe.ch pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

(2/2) ..I increasingly encounter faculty that will not support their own students/postdocs in fellowship applications due to perceived competition on science. Maybe I am just getting old but isn't the idea of our jobs to create great scientists that can go on and do even better science than we have?

TIRE CHANGE: First Mg(I) complex with a Cp* ligand enables facile ligand exchange. Reaction with RONa gives (BDI)Mg-MgOR and Cp*Na. This paves the way for syntheses of many new asymmetric Mg(I) complexes. @angew_chem onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

A privilege to be back in York to deliver the McCamley Lecture. Many thanks to everyone in the Chemistry Department for their hospitality!

Our group's very first ACIE paper is out!🥳 Awesome work by Soti and a great cooperation with the Bittl group and @franemmerling.bsky.social. Dedicated to @christianlimberg.bsky.social and Franc Meyer @humboldtuni.bsky.social @manchester.ac.uk onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

First post, first publication! I’m over the moon to share the first publication from our small research group! 🚀 pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a... @chemcomm.rsc.org Jan explored a funky P=P-containing heterocycle and its reversible! bond activation chemistry, with DFT insights from Francesco. #newPI

20 years of FLPs! Check out this article published together with the pioneer of FLPs himself (Prof. Douglas Stephan) covering some of the highlights of FLP chemistry over the last two decades. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

🔓Don't miss this #OpenAccess Frontier article by Liam P. Griffin and @josefboronski.bsky.social outlining recent advances in heterometallic alkaline earth metals and pathways to future breakthroughs⬇️ pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a... 📍 @manchester.ac.uk, @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social 🧪

Ending the week on a high! Check out our comparison of manganate and magnesiate now published in ChemComm! Great team effort @bathchem.bsky.social with @tobiaskramer.bsky.social in understanding these elusive bimetallics!

I am happy to share that our latest paper has been published in @science.org. In this work, we report the synthesis of novel tin carbonyl and carbene complexes. Thanks to all collaborators! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @humboldt-foundation.de @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk

Thrilled to share a first publication of the group! We report on cadmium aluminyls that find application as Cd-nucleophiles and(!) Al(I)-Transfer reagents. Now out in @jacs.acspublications.org ! 🥳👍 Thanks a lot to @chemieverband.bsky.social for the generous funding. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Liam Griffin and I have reviewed recent advances in the heterometallic bonding chemistry of the alkaline earth metals @daltontrans.rsc.org. It was fun to put this together, and we hope it's useful! pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Reversible C–H Bond Activation of Unactivated Arenes by a Nickel-Silylene Complex - pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... So proud to congratulate first author Leon Gomm for his first paper in JACS. Thanks to Hui Zhu and Stefan Grimme for the ever helpful DFT calculations. @unibonn.bsky.social

Our groups first foray into heterobimetallic Zn/Al chemistry. Congratulations to Jake, Josef, Avantika, George, Nik and @millsgroupchem.bsky.social. chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...

Excited to see this work published today in @jacs.acspublications.org , fun chemistry and a real group effort here by @clairemcmullin.bsky.social , @moraleschem.bsky.social , Mary and big Mike! (@bathchem.bsky.social) pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Excited to share the latest work from David Anderson just accepted @angewandtechemie.bsky.social on the structure and applications of #sodium #neopentyl a donor free #organosodium #reagent soluble in #hydrocarbon solvents @unibe.ch onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

🔥Excited to share our latest: "C(sp2)–H Bond Activation with a Heterometallic Nickel---Aluminium Complex” Now out in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social w/ @crimmingroup.bsky.social Work done by PhD student, Joseph A. Zurakowski w/ Benedek Stadler & Mark Crimmin! 💪 tinyurl.com/3bbj56nw

🎉 Just out in Nature Comm @natcomms.nature.com "Unleashing phosphorus mononitride" 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41... Spearheaded by the Reinholdt group (Lund), we find that the elusive P≡N molecule finds new life in an Os complex and unlocks unique [NPS₂]²⁻, [NPCl]⁻, and aromatic [PN₄]⁻ species.

PDRA extraordinaire, Álvaro García-Romero, hits it out if the park again! Check out his most recent work out today in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social. Outstanding computational support by DFT master @isra-group.bsky.social! Further details here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Breaking bonds at tin(II)! We've had a look at the spectrum of bond addition reactions, from reductive (Be-Be) to oxidative (Cl-Cl), and everything in between (B-B, B-H, H-H) @angewandtechemie.bsky.social @maxdietz.bsky.social @amelia-swarbrook.bsky.social doi.org/10.1002/anie...

** PhD position ** We are advertising a chemical biology studentship with Vilar and Mann groups, and GSK with ICB CDT @icbcdt.bsky.social. #automation, #Synthesis, #direct-to-biology, www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

We're recruiting a PDRA to work with our team at Oxford Chemistry @ox.ac.uk @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social ! If you are interested in synthetic inorganic chemistry and catalysis research, Apply! my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Exciting new @chemrxiv.bsky.social preprint from @pentaleniko.bsky.social, @sarahlpatrick.bsky.social , @andreasphanopoulos.bsky.social and Jiahuang Mao. They report a simple transfer fluorination method to recycle fluoride content of HFCs, HFOs, fluoroethers, and PFAS. chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...

New paper out today in @natsynth.nature.com from Wenbang Yang. We describe addition of Zn–Zn bonds to main group carbenes. The system nicely illustrates the continuum between oxidative addition and reductive addition processes. rdcu.be/ejPSS