Catalysis in Organic Chemistry Award 2010 Winner

Awarded for his design and development of novel organocatalysts and their incorporation into cascade reactions

About the winner

Darren J. Dixon is Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Oxford. He was born and raised in Scarborough, North Yorkshire and obtained his first degree and D. Phil from the University of Oxford, where he worked with Professor Stephen G. Davies on the first total synthesis of the pseudopeptide antibiotic Moiramide B, and its close relative Andrimid. In 1997 he moved to the University of Cambridge to undertake post-doctoral work with Professor Steven V. Ley CBE, FRS and in 2000 was appointed to the staff of the Department of Chemistry. In September 2004 he was appointed to a Senior Lectureship at The University of Manchester and in August 2007 was promoted to Reader. In October 2008 he moved to his current post at the University of Oxford where he also holds the Knowles-Williams Tutorial Fellowship in Organic Chemistry at Wadham College and a 5 year EPSRC Leadership Fellowship.

His research interests lie largely in the field of asymmetric synthesis where he has published widely on catalyst design and application, the design and development of synthetically powerful reaction cascades, the development of new synthetic methodologies and the total synthesis of complex natural products.