Dr. David Johnson              d.johnson@hw.ac.uk

Dave is working in collaboration with Dr Ai-Lan Lee on understanding Au(I) catalytic processes of the direct allylic etherification of alcohols.

His Ph.D. was supervised by Dr John Slattery and Dr Jason Lynam. One of the primary focuses of his research was the mechanism of pyridine C-H activation and subsequent alkenylation with a half-sandwich Rh(II) centre.³ Other studies involved a Ru(II) bis-acetate complex in alkyne / vinylidene tautomerisation, which led onto further catalytic studies with similar systems.¹ Lastly, a selection of ligands were investigated with a combination of DFT/NBO methods in order to predict how their bonding topology related to their donating ability.²

Recent Publications

[9].

Structure of Amido Pyridinium Betaines: Persistent Intermolecular C-H···N Hydrogen Bonding in Solution
R. J. Thatcher, D. G. Johnson, J. M. Slattery, R. E. Douthwaite
Chem. Eur. J., 2016, 10, 3414-3421, DOI: 10.1002/chem.201503884

[8].

Gold-Catalyzed Proto- and Deuterodeboronation.
G. Barker, S. Webster, D. G. Johnson, R. Curley, M. Andrews, P. C. Young, S. A. Macgregor and A. L. Lee,
J. Org. Chem., 2015, 80 (20), 9807-9816, DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.5b01041

[7].

Chirality Transfer in Gold(I)-Catalysed Direct Allylic Etherifications of Unactivated Alcohols: Experimental and Computational Study.
G. Barker, D. G. Johnson, P. C. Young, S. A. Macgregor and A. L. Lee,
Chem. Eur. J., 2015, 21, 13748-13757, DOI: 10.1002/chem.201501607

[6].

Gold(I)-Catalysed Direct Thioetherifications Using Allylic Alcohols: an Experimental and Computational Study.
L. Herkert, S. L. J. Green, G. Barker, D. G. Johnson, P. C. Young, S. A. Macgregor and A.-L. Lee,
Chem. Eur. J., 2014, 20, 11540-11548, DOI: 10.1002/chem.201403293

[5].

Palladium-Catalyzed Direct C-H Functionalization of Benzoquinone.
S. E. Walker, J. A. Jordan-Hore, D. G. Johnson, S. A. Macgregor and A.-L. Lee,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2014, 50, 14096-14099, DOI: 10.1002/ange.201408054

[4].

Mapping the Elimination of Water from Hydroxyvinylidene Complexes of Ruthenium(II): Access to Allenylidene and Vinylvinylidene Complexes in a Stepwise Fashion.
E. J. Smith, D. G. Johnson, R. J. Thatcher, A. C. Whitwood and J. M. Lynam,
Organometallics, 2014, 32, 7407-7417, DOI: 10.1021/om4009247

[3].

Ruthenium-Mediated C-H Functionalization of Pyridine: The Role of Vinylidene and Pyridylidene Ligands.
D. G. Johnson, J. M. Lynam, N. S. Mistry, J. M. Slattery, R. J. Thatcher and A. C. Whitwood,
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 2222-2234, DOI: 10.1021/ja3097256.

[2].

Charged Behaviour from Neutral Ligands: Synthesis and Properties of N-Heterocyclic Pseudo-amides.
R. J. Thatcher, D. G. Johnson, J. M. Slattery and R. E. Douthwaite,
Chem. Eur. J., 2012, 18, 4329-4336, DOI: 10.1002/chem.201103319

[1].

Insights into the intramolecular acetate-mediated formation of ruthenium vinylidene complexes: a ligand-assisted proton shuttle (LAPS) mechanism.
D. G. Johnson, J. M. Lynam, J. M. Slattery and C. E. Welby,
Dalton Trans., 2010, 39, 10432-10441, DOI: 10.1039/C0DT00431F

News

22^nd Feburary 2016

Stuart, Dave and Tobi attended the CP2K-UK 3rd Users Meeting in London. Tobi presented on the group's work using CP2K.

1^st December 2015

Dave has returned from his time at "U.A.B." funded by EU COST Action CARISMA. Welcome back!

10^th October 2015

Dave has shunned the Scottish weather and left for Barcelona for 2 months. Whilst there he will be working with Gregori Ujaque and Agustí Lledós on a COST action grant.

3^rd June 2015

Claire and Dave attended OMCOS 18 (Organometallic Chemistry directed towards Organic Synthesis) in Sitges-Barcelona. Claire was selected from 160 abstracts to present her work on Ru(II)-direct arylation in front of the over 800 strong audience.

1^st April 2015

Claire, Dave, Tobi, Nick, Emma and Vera travelled to the Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms Discussion group at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology. Claire gave her talk on kinetic modelling of C-I activation with a Ru(II) hydride-phosphine complex: