Education
Ley was educated at Loughborough University of Technology where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy.
chemist president university professor
Ley was educated at Loughborough University of Technology where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy.
He was President of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2000–2002) and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in January 2002, in the process. In 2011, he was included by The Times in the list of the “100 most important people in British science”. Ley"s main research field are the total synthesis of biomolecules.
His group has published extensively on this topic, and has completed the synthesis of more than 140 natural target compounds, with notable examples including indanamycin, routiennocin, avermectin B1a, okadaic acid, spongistatin, thapsigargin, epothilone A, antascomicin B, bengazole A and rapamycin.
His total synthesis of azadirachtin, completed in 2007, is widely regarded as one of the major landmarks in total synthesis. In the course of this work, he has also made substantial advances in many areas of organic chemistry, including the development of new catalysts, protecting groups and reagents.
He is one of the inventors of TPAP, a widely employed oxidizing reagent. He has also pioneered the use of immobilized reagents and flow techniques in multi-step organic synthesis.
This work now incorporates flow chemistry for multistep organic synthesis applications.
Honours and
Royal Society.