Catalysis

We are particularly interested in developing new organic reactions that proceed via catalytic C-H activation and producing new catalysts for challenging coupling reactions, with a particular emphasis on the use of iron. Catalysts produced in the group range from organometallic complexes with well defined ligand architectures to nanoparticulate metals.

A re-examination of claims of aminoferrocene–graphene-based molecular magnets Athavan, G., Coudert, F.-X. & Bedford, R. B., 11 Mar 2024, In: Applied Physics Letters. 124, 11, p. 1-6 6 p., 111903. Iron-catalysed C–H ortho-arylation of edaravone, a promising monoamine oxidase-B inhibitor Asghar, S., Manzotti, M., Atkins, A., Tailor, S., Sparkes, H. A., Saeed, M. & Bedford, R. B., 30 May 2024, In: Tetrahedron. 158, p. 1-7 7 p., 133983. The iron-catalysed Suzuki coupling of aryl chlorides Rowsell, B. J. S., O’brien, H. M., Athavan, G., Daley-Dee, P. R., Krieger, J., Richards, E., Heaton, K., Fairlamb, I. J. S. & Bedford, R. B., 1 Nov 2024, In: Nature Catalysis. 7, 11, p. 1186-1198 13 p. Cobalt-Catalyzed Coupling of Aryl Chlorides with Aryl Boron Esters Activated by Alkoxides Tailor, S. B., Manzotti, M., Smith, G. J., Davis, S. A. & Bedford, R. B., 2 Apr 2021, In: ACS Catalysis. 11, 7, p. 3856-3866 Identifying palladium culprits in amine catalysis Avanthay, M., Bedford, R. B., Begg, C. S., Böse, D., Clayden, J., Davis, S. A., Eloi, J. C., Goryunov, G. P., Hartung, I. V., Heeley, J., Khaikin, K. A., Kitching, M. O., Krieger, J., Kulyabin, P. S., Lennox, A. J. J., Nolla-Saltiel, R., Pridmore, N. E., Rowsell, B. J. S., Sparkes, H. A. & Uborsky, D. V. & 3 others, , 2 Dec 2021, In: Nature Catalysis. 4, p. 994-998 5 p. Can immobilization of an inactive iron species switch on catalytic activity in the Suzuki reaction? Tailor, S. & Bedford, R. B., 12 Oct 2019, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Catalysis Letters. 6 p. Methylenespiro[2.3]hexanes via Nickel-Catalyzed Cyclopropanations with [1.1.1]Propellane Yu, S., Noble, A., Bedford, R. B. & Aggarwal, V. K., 26 Dec 2019, In: Journal of the American Chemical Society. 141, 51, p. 20325-20334 10 p., 51. Revisiting Claims of the Iron-, Cobalt-, Nickel-, and Copper-Catalyzed Suzuki Biaryl Cross-Coupling of Aryl Halides with Aryl Boronic Acids Tailor, S., Manzotti, M., Asghar, S., Rowsell, B., Luckham, S., Sparkes, H. & Bedford, R., 22 Apr 2019, In: Organometallics. 38, 8, p. 1770-1777 8 p. The highly surprising behaviour of diphosphine ligands in iron-catalysed Negishi cross-coupling Messinis, A. M., Luckham, S. L. J., Wells, P. P., Gianolio, D., Gibson, E. K., O’Brien, H. M., Sparkes, H. A., Davis, S. A., Callison, J., Elorriaga, D., Hernandez-Fajardo, O. & Bedford, R. B., 1 Feb 2019, In: Nature Catalysis. 2, 2, p. 123-133 11 p. The surprisingly facile formation of Pd(I)-phosphido complexes from ortho-biphenylphosphines and palladium acetate Montgomery, M., O'Brien, H. M., Méndez-Gálvez, C., Bromfield, C. R., Roberts, J. P. M., Winnicka, A. M., Horner, A., Elorriaga, D., Sparkes, H. A. & Bedford, R. B., 25 Jan 2019, In: Dalton Transactions. 48, 11, p. 3539-3542 4 p. Iron-catalysed substrate-directed Suzuki biaryl cross-coupling O'Brien, H. M., Manzotti, M., Abrams, R. D., Elorriaga, D., Sparkes, H. A., Davis, S. A. & Bedford, R. B., Jun 2018, In: Nature Catalysis. 1, 6, p. 429-437 9 p. Cobalt-Catalyzed Suzuki Biaryl Coupling of Aryl Halides Asghar, S., Tailor, S. B., Elorriaga, D. & Bedford, R. B., 18 Dec 2017, In: Angewandte Chemie - International Edition. 56, 51, p. 16367-16370 4 p. Isoindolinones via Copper-Catalyzed Intramolecular Benzylic C-H Sulfamidation Bedford, R., Bowen, J. G. & Méndez-Gálvez, C., 3 Feb 2017, In: Journal of Organic Chemistry. 82, 3, p. 1719-1725 7 p. Copper-Catalyzed Borylation of Cyclic Sulfamidates: Access to Enantiomerically Pure (β-and γ-Amino-alkyl)boronic Esters Ursinyova, N., Bedford, R. B. & Gallagher, T., 5 Feb 2016, In: European Journal of Organic Chemistry. 2016, 4, p. 673-677 5 p. Homogeneous catalysis: Eight irons hit the right spin Bedford, R. B., 22 Sept 2016, In: Nature Chemistry. 8, 10, p. 904-5 2 p. Palladium-Catalyzed ortho-Arylation of Carbamate-Protected Estrogens Bedford, R. B., Brenner, P. B., Durrant, S. J., Gallagher, T., Méndez-Gálvez, C. & Montgomery, M., 6 May 2016, In: Journal of Organic Chemistry. 81, 9, p. 3473–3478 6 p. The influence of the ligand chelate effect on iron-amine-catalysed Kumada cross-coupling Bedford, R., Brenner, P. B., Elorriaga, D., Harvey, J. & Nunn, J., 28 Oct 2016, In: Dalton Transactions. 45, 40, p. 15811-15817 7 p. Catalyst-Switchable Regiocontrol in the Direct Arylation of Remote C—H Groups in Pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines Bedford, R. B., Durrant, S. J. & Montgomery, M., 20 Jul 2015, In: Angewandte Chemie - International Edition. 54, 30, p. 8787-8790 4 p. Facile hydrolysis and alcoholysis of palladium acetate Bedford, R. B., Bowen, J. G., Davidson, R. B., Haddow, M. F., Seymour-Julen, A. E., Sparkes, H. A. & Webster, R. L., 26 May 2015, In: Angewandte Chemie - International Edition. 54, 22, p. 6591-6594 How Low Does Iron Go? Chasing the Active Species in Fe-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions Bedford, R. B., 28 Apr 2015, In: Accounts of Chemical Research. 48, 5, p. 1485-1493 9 p. The development of iron catalysts for Cross-Coupling reactions Bedford, R. B. & Brenner, P. B., 2015, In: Topics in Organometallic Chemistry. 50, p. 19-46 28 p. Towards iron-catalysed suzuki biaryl cross-coupling: Unusual reactivity of 2-halobenzyl halides Bedford, R. B., Gallagher, T., Pye, D. R. & Savage, W., 16 Jun 2015, In: Synthesis (Germany). 47, 12, p. 1761-1765 5 p., ss-2014-c0739-st.