Synthetic organic chemistry is the discipline responsible for building the molecules that have transformed science, technology, and everyday life and the group aims to make inroads into all of these areas. There are many different topics that an HDR student can contribute to the group’s research. These can be targeted to match your interests. Whether it is medicinal chemistry, materials or just exploring what can be achieved with organic chemistry, then we have something for you. 

Please note that these projects can only be hosted at the Canberra campus of UNSW 

a) Novel bioisosteres for medicinal chemistry 

To build new medicines, agrichemicals, and advanced materials, synthetic chemists combine building blocks with defined shape and size. The largest proportion of available building blocks are flat (achiral) aromatic compounds, which are readily available, well-studied and undergo a wide range of useful reactions. In a three-dimensional world, these flat building blocks severely constrain chemists’ ability to invent new life-changing molecules and materials. Access to building blocks that possess all the benefits of aromatic compounds, but that also incorporate three-dimensional shape (and chirality) is a pressing unmet need. The development of new molecular systems typically involves altering the groups attached to the flat aromatic core of privileged molecular fragments (peripheral substitution). However, the use of internal substitution to tune structural, electronic and chiral properties of molecules is unexplored (Fig 1.). This project will explore both the chemical reactivity of these types of compounds as well as their potential to be incorporated into drug molecules as isosteres of naphthalene. 

b) Utilising natural products as starting materials for drug development 

Natural products are small molecules produced by plants, microbes, and marine organisms and are widely used as starting points for drug development. This is because their complex and diverse chemical structures often display intrinsic bioactivity, making them valuable “lead compounds” for therapeutic discovery. Many successful drugs, including antibiotics, anticancer agents, and immunosuppressants, are either natural products or derivatives thereof, illustrating how nature-inspired scaffolds continue to guide modern pharmaceutical innovation. However, they can often be classified as poor drugs due to their poor stability, selective or bioavailability.  This project will utilise readily available natural product usnic acid as a starting point to generate novel molecules designed to target cancer cells. 

c) Small-molecule chromophores 

Small‑molecule chromophores are valuable tools across chemistry, biology, and materials science because of their ability to absorb and emit light in a predictable manner. This optical responsiveness enables their use as fluorescent probes for imaging and sensing or in modern applications such as waveguides. We have identified a simple synthetic route to easily generate highly coloured small-molecules in a single step. This project will explore this reaction further as well as analyse the optical properties of the products generated.