In 1992 he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge working with Doctor Stuart Warren on asymmetric synthesis using phosphine oxide chemistry. He then carried out a postdoc with Professor Marc Julia and in 1994 became a lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of Manchester where he became a reader in 2000 and a Professor of Organic Chemistry in 2001. In 2015 he moved to a chair in chemistry at the University of Bristol.
His research interests encompass various areas of synthesis and stereochemistry, particularly where conformation has a role to play: asymmetric synthesis, atropisomerism, organolithium chemistry, remote stereochemical effects and dynamic foldamer chemistry. He is known for being one of the authors of the popular organic chemistry textbook - Organic Chemistry by Clayden, Greeves, & Warren. He also wrote Organolithiums: Selectivity for Synthesis, which concerns the use of organolithium compounds in organic synthetic reactions.
From 2005 to 2011 he was editor-in-chief of the Open Access Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry.
