Dr Mike Housden, Praelector

Mike Housden is a synthetic organic chemist who has been working in the research groups of Prof. Matthew Gaunt and Prof. Ian Paterson. His research is involved with the development of novel synthetic techniques and strategies to design molecular structures with direct application in electronic device manufacture, in particular organic photovoltaics and OLEDs. The use of catalytic quantities of transition metals, such as copper and palladium, opens up many new modes of chemical reactivity allowing for the direct functionalisation of traditionally inert carbon-hydrogen bonds. Pre-designed small molecules with delocalised bonding that behave as semiconductors or complex three-dimensional architectures can then be built in a much quicker, cleaner and more precise fashion. Recently, in addition to these studies, he has been working with a new team of chemists as part of an industrial collaboration to investigate the application of complex molecule synthesis in new drug delivery mechanisms and medicines.