Previously, I was a Research Fellow with Professor Steven P. Nolan FRSE at the University of St Andrews (2012-2014). I obtained my PhD working with Professor Jonathan M. Percy at the University of Strathclyde (2008-2012), after being awarded an MChem in Chemistry with Industrial Experience from the University of Edinburgh (2003-2008).

Many of the most important reactions in industry today are catalysed by transition metal complexes. Our research focusses on the design, discovery, understanding and optimisation of selective and economical processes, with a specific focus on developing reactions to the point that they can be deployed on scale in industry.

Oxidative addition of aryl electrophiles to a prototypical nickel(0) complex : mechanism and structure/reactivity relationshipsBajo Sonia, Laidlaw Gillian, Kennedy Alan R., Sproules Stephen, Nelson David J.Organometallics, (2017)http://dx.doi.org/0.1021/acs.organomet.7b00208 Quantifying and understanding the steric properties of N-heterocyclic carbenesNolan Steven P, Nelson David James, Gómez-Suárez AdriánChemical Communications, (2017) Carboxylation, carbonylation, and dehalogenationNelson DavidN-Heterocyclic Carbenes in Catalytic Organic SynthesisScience of Synthesis Reference Library, (2017) Synthesis, activation, and decomposition of N-heterocyclic carbene-containing complexesNelson David, Praetorius Jeremy, Crudden CathleenN-Heterocyclic CarbenesCatalysis Series, (2016)http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/9781782626817-00046 Synthesis and characterisation of an N-heterocyclic carbene with spatially-defined steric impactShaw Paul, Kennedy Alan R., Nelson David J.Dalton Transactions, (2016)http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C6DT02100J Grignard reagents and palladiumNelson David J., Cazin Catherine S. J., Nolan Steven P.Grignard Reagents and Transition Metal CatalystsGrignard Reagents and Transition Metal Catalysts, (2016)http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110352726-003