Dr Jonathan Morris

Research Interests

My research interests are concerned with the synthesis of complex natural products that have intriguing biological properties. Natural products have long played a significant role in the development of organic chemistry, particularly in the areas of synthesis, biosynthesis, theory, and spectroscopy. An important consequence of the study of natural products is that many compounds have found uses as medicinal agents for the treatment of disease. Organic synthesis plays an important role in the investigation of how a natural product interacts with a biological receptor as access to significant quantities of the natural product is often not possible from natural sources. Synthesis also provides access to non-natural analogues that permit more insights into the type of interactions that are necessary for biological activity.

A major problem in organic synthesis is that most synthetic procedures leave much to be desired regarding efficiency, reliability and predictability. By tackling challenging targets we can test these procedures fully and obtain a better understanding of the chemical processes involved. From this understanding, we can then improve existing methodology and discover new ways of building organic molecules.

Expertise for Media Contact

Categories	Science and technology
Expertise	natural products; synthetic methodology; synthetic organic chemistry
After hours	(08) 72250352

Entry last updated: Sunday, 15 Nov 2009