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David Nelson

@davidjn.bsky.social
764 followers 984 following 99 posts

Pronouns: he/him Reader in Chemistry, University of Strathclyde Chief Scientific Officer, CataNiTek Editorial Board Member, Communications Chemistry H&S Rep., Strathclyde UCU All views my own #chemsky djnelson.group

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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The year is 2026, and I can now put my taskbar at the top of my screen in Windows 11 ... Would actually have rather had this feature rather than all of the attempts to shove CoPilot in my face ...
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Our latest pre-print (with Vicky Listyarini, Ryan Oliver, and Kathleen Lao) is now up on ChemRxiv. doi.org/10.26434/che... We systematically explore the steric demand of oxidative addition vs halogen atom abstraction for nickel(0) complexes of some mono- and bidentate ligands, using DFT calc's.
doi.org
Understanding the steric demand of the reactions of nickel(0) complexes with aryl halide substrates | ChemRxiv
Nickel complexes are able to undergo reactions with organohalides by a variety of fundamental steps, which can be either one-electron or two-electron in nature. Two electron processes are typically so...
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
NEW Why holding a placard is a terrorist act, while causing disruption in a balaclava is not The mess caused by ministers and the police not taking terrorism law seriously By me at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

Recent events in England now reveal the practical difference between terrorists and protesters. It would seem that terrorists peacefully hold placards and get immediately arrested, while protesters wear black uniforms and balaclavas and disrupt infrastructure and do not get arrested.

How did we get into this mess? How have we placed ourselves in the position where terrorism legislation is used to detain and prosecute peaceful protesters, while those adopting the terror tactics of private armies seem to be free to do as they wish?

The reason is that for some time British politicians have not taken terrorism legislation seriously, and that ministers have got into the habit of misusing terror laws for easy targets.
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Prof. Natalie Fey @nataliefeynls.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Join us at our Faraday Discussion on: Understanding molecular catalysis through computation and experiment where we will explore the latest research in the field. First deadline (oral abstracts) is coming up on 5th October 2026... Find out more (and submit an abstract): invt.io/1bxbzpnohoi
invt.io
I've registered for Understanding molecular catalysis through computation and experiment FD, join me
Register now
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Evan Greer @evangreer.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
in a world of JK Rowlings be a Dolly Parton
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Remember folks: don't feed the trolls. They thrive on engagement. The block accunt button is there for a reason.
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I'll leave this here share.google/uoAiMmeNWDyv...
share.google
YouTube
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Directness != Rudeness (As someone who prefers when emails just rapidly get to The Point)
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
To quote one of my wonderfully straight talking colleagues: when money talks, ethics walks. The University of Glasgow have obviously decided they can tolerate his obnoxious behaviour so long as the grant money keeps rolling in.
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Marc Reid @reid-indeed.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
We are hiring for an open #PhD position! 🧪 PROJECT Your PhD offers the chance to pioneer a genuine step change in how chemistry is monitored: not just watching reactions as they happen but forecasting decision-critical events before they occur. Find ot more: www.dr-marc-reid.com/reid-group
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 03/08/2026
It says a lot about a politician when 20% of people would rather vote for a bin.
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
British politics: where the main challenger in a parliamentary by-election is a man with a bin on his head. (Still preferable to Farage though)
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Dalton Transactions @daltontrans.rsc.org · 06/07/2026
Dalton Transactions is very pleased to support the upcoming RSC Scottish Dalton/USIC Conference which will be held at Heriot-Watt University on 1-2 September 2026 🚨 Read more & sign up here: www.rsc.org/events/find-...
Promotional slide for the RSC Dalton Community Scotland and Universities of Scotland Inorganic Conference (USIC) 2026
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Laurence Totelin @ltotelin.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
I'm seeing that many people caught in the current UK HE crisis are receiving bad news on a Friday. Be aware that this is a union busting tactic. 1/
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Nico and Megan's paper on the reactions of organotriflates with Ni(0) has now been published in @catalysisscitech.rsc.org ! Some answers, but also more questions ... Thanks to Stephen for the EPR data, and AstraZeneca Colleagues (Tom, Rachel, and Scott) for their support. doi.org/10.1039/D6CY...
doi.org
On the reactions of (hetero)aryl and vinyl triflates with [Ni(COD)(dppf)]
We report the experimental and computational investigations of the reactions of aryl, heteroaryl, and vinyl triflates with a model nickel(0) complex. While the reactions of most (hetero)aryl and vinyl...
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MehtaLab @mehtalab.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Thinking of doing a PhD in synthetic inorganic chemistry? Apply with the Mehta group. UK students only. Email me.
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Yep - have to start dragging then hit Ctrl and/or shift for it to work properly
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
The way in which the University is approaching job cuts was already troubling for a number of reasons, and here is another ...
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Marcus Drover @marcuswdrover.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
🔥Excited to share our latest: "From Borane to Metal-Bound Boraindene: A Cascade of Bond Breaking and Making at Rhodium” Now out in @chemcomm.rsc.org - a collab. w/ @davidjn.bsky.social! Work done by MSc student, Emily Addison! 💪 pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
FWIW ... the reMarkable Windows app seems to behave (so far) in WINE (on Fedora 43).
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Uh ... don't think a DLPNO-CCSD(T) calculation should do ... erm ... *waves hands* ... this?
Screenshot of a linux terminal showing a computational chemistry job in progress, with a rapid decrease in the energy of the system to a level that is not reasonable.
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Those who compare AI with the Industrial Revolution only know about the Industrial Revolution from AI.
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
I've been doing a LOT of work evaluating product-market fit and the commercial potential of an innovation ... if you have to try so hard to FORCE your product onto people then there maybe just isn't the market you think there is. MS probably just too out over their skis to turn back now.
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Dear Microsoft Copilot, Fuck off. Love, David
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Well done Máire!
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Brilliant, cheers! Will pass this on ...
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
One of my students is having a fight trying to make something very similar... issues getting the hydrazone to react. Was your prep. published?
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
But but but but 'project fear'!?
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Speaking personally - I commuted as an undergraduate and spent every weekend working - a lot of this sounds familiar. I met wonderful people at uni - and still keep in touch with a few - but I lived more than 1 h from Uni and worked every weekend so socialised a lot less than I would have liked.
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
An interesting and thought-provoking read, if a tad depressing. This is certainly something that, in Chemistry at Strathclyde, we're trying to address early in first year to help students find their people.
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Pretty sure when I was a student a ChemComm was three pages at most. Now it's five ... !!!
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Yes!! Well done Patrick :)
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Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 12/11/2025
every company in 2025
comic strip with call and response text. 
who are we? 
CEOs
what do we want? 
AI! 
AI to do what? 
We don't know! 
When do we want it? 
Right now!
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 06/11/2025
We’re already deep into the ballot! Here’s your reminder, the ballot closes on Friday 28 November. If you haven’t posted your vote yet, do it today. Every single vote counts. Vote early. Vote yes. #WeAreTheUniversity
We are the University
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Ziggy's has closed unfortunately 😭 But the best watering hole was always Aikman's (good Cullen skink soup too) closely followed by the St Andrews brewing company
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
A direct consequence of realising the true issue is a broken central heating pump
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
Opening the Laphroaig for the first time in too long ...
A glass of whisky next to a bottle of Laphroaig whisky in a branded cardboard box
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
In a change from dabbling in things I don't understand at work, I'm now dabbling in things I don't understand in the house. (Specifically: why the heating isn't working properly)
A disconnected white radiator with a black plastic tray, an adjustable wrench, and two towels in view.
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Sandy Kilpatrick @sandykilla.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Fantastic @centa.bsky.social PhD scholarship co-supervised with @rmlab.bsky.social If you’re interested in sustainable #Electrocatalysis and CO₂ valorisation, do get in touch!
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Academia seems to be that continual feeling that you're always doing your homework on the bus to school ...
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Andrew Weller @wellerchemyork.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
We have Postdoc position open in my lab for SMOM. Please see this post on LinkedIn for full details. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew...
linkedin.com
Research Associate in Organometallic Chemistry | Andrew Weller
We are hiring a Postdoc! If you have PhD/PDRA experience in air sensitive, platinum group metal organometallics, are interested in using this expertise in single-crystal SMOM synthesis and reactivity,...
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God @thegodshow.com · 12/10/2025
"Conversion therapy" is a polite name for something that isn’t conversion and isn’t therapy. It’s abuse.
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Solidarity with @leicesterucu.bsky.social colleagues - on strike to protect their institution, their colleagues, and their students
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
I've reached the stage of fatherhood where my work from home lunch is the leftovers from the wee man's dinners ...
A plate of food composed of several different meals
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The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · 23/09/2025
“Climate change is real - the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities is resulting in fundamental changes to our planet. It is increasing the risk of extreme weather, warming the ocean and causing ice caps to melt resulting in sea level rise,” 1/3
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David K Smith @professor-dave.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
First it's removing 'illegal' small boats migrants. Then it's removing legal migrants with indefinite leave to remain. Then it'll be removing freedoms of minorities - religious, LGBT+, disabled. Then it'll be persecuting anyone who thinks differently (labelled 'leftists') for opposing 'patriotism'.
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Our collaboration w/ @markstradiotto.bsky.social and team is now out in Chem. Eur. J. (@chemistryeurope.bsky.social)! Mark's team used DalPhos ligands for Ni-cat. C-P couplings, which we supported with DFT calculations of reductive elimination. doi.org/10.1002/chem... @cathweetman.bsky.social
doi.org
Nickel‐Catalyzed P‐Arylation of HP(= O)(R/OR)2 Nucleophiles with (Hetero)Aryl Chlorides Enabled by DalPhos Ligation
The development of broadly useful C-P cross-couplings of (hetero)aryl chlorides and HP(O)(R/OR)2 nucleophiles by use of nickel/DalPhos-based catalysts is described, along with findings from DFT studi....
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
@ukri.org I note that here (www.ukri.org/who-we-are/w...) you use the term 'biological sex' and not gender when balancing SATs. Why does what is (or was) in people's underpants matter here? Surely this is about lived experiences and perspectives?
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David Nelson @davidjn.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Congratulations!
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