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Michael Willis

@rhpdcu.bsky.social
756 followers 1K following 27 posts

Cycling, wine drinking, baking, West Ham supporting, organic chemist at Oxford.

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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Definitely an improvement on last year’s batch.
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Di and Ben's recent work on the synthesis of 4-membered sulfinamides, and onwards to sulfonamides and sulfonimidamides is out now in Science. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Access to four-membered cyclic sulfinamides by energy transfer catalysis
Synthetic transformations that advance through excited states proceed by unconventional mechanistic pathways and deliver products not accessible using ground-state chemistry. The breadth of these synt...
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Reposted by Michael Willis
Jake Yeston @jakeyeston.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
In @science.org for chemsky this week, Michael Willis’ group make beta-lactam analogues with S=O in place of C=O, using energy-transfer reactivity of N-silyl sulfinylamine precursors. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Access to four-membered cyclic sulfinamides by energy transfer catalysis
Synthetic transformations that advance through excited states proceed by unconventional mechanistic pathways and deliver products not accessible using ground-state chemistry. The breadth of these synt...
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
The annual Yule log homage to Stickman…
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Reposted by Michael Willis
Scott Bagley @bagphos.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
My favorite 2025 #PfizerChemistry publications #12daysOfPapers 6/n: This wonderful review of desulfinative coupling in med chem as an alternative to traditional Suzuki - esp effective for heterocycles - collab with the Willis lab @rhpdcu.bsky.social Uses in PMC to scale up #ChemSky #ChemChat
pubs.acs.org
Desulfinative Cross-Coupling as a Method to Overcome Problematic Suzuki–Miyaura Reactions of Pharmaceutically Relevant Heteroaromatic Boronates
The well documented difficulties associated with direct (hetero)arylation of aza-aromatics (e.g., azines) at the α-position to nitrogen led to a collaborative project between the Willis group at Oxfor...
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
and today’s bagels…
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
First go at blueberry and cream cheese buns… from a recipe by Louise Hurst in Buns…
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Ben's work on developing an EnT promoted aza Paternò-Büchi reaction is now online at Nature Catalysis. Key to success was the use of sulfamoyl fluoride substituted imines. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
A modular synthesis of azetidines from reactive triplet imine intermediates using an intermolecular aza Paternò–Büchi reaction - Nature Catalysis
Azetidines are four-membered saturated N-heterocycles that are of interest in drug discovery and medicinal chemistry. Here the authors report how sulfamoyl fluoride substituents tune the reactivity of...
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Matt's work on the iron-catalyzed synthesis of sulfinamides from carboxylic acids is online at Organic Letters. The chemistry uses alkyl carboxylic acids, commercial sulfinylamine reagents, and simple iron salts such as iron nitrate as catalysts. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org
Iron-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Sulfinylation of Alkyl Carboxylic Acids
Sulfinamides, sulfonamides, and sulfonimidamides are valuable motifs in medicinal chemistry, yet methods to synthesize alkyl variants from simple, readily available feedstocks remain scarce. In this report, we detail the synthesis of these three distinct sulfur functional groups, using readily available and structurally diverse alkyl carboxylic acids as the starting materials. The method harnesses alkyl radical generation from carboxylic acids using commercial iron salts and visible light irradiation, in combination with commercial sulfinylamine reagents, to deliver alkyl sulfinamide products. The method is operationally simple and scalable, exhibits broad functional group tolerance, and is translatable to continuous-flow synthesis. Furthermore, it facilitates late-stage diversification of complex molecules, highlighting its potential utility in medicinal chemistry applications.
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Reposted by Michael Willis
Scott Bagley @bagphos.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
#ChemSky As a medicinal chemist I often look at sulfonamides as isosteic replacements for R-CO2H and now thanks to the Willis lab @ Oxford @rhpdcu.bsky.social & Sygnature, you can do that synthetically too! One step sp3-CO2H -> sp3-SONH2 and acces to sulfonamides and sulfonimides #OrgLett asap
pubs.acs.org
Iron-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Sulfinylation of Alkyl Carboxylic Acids
Sulfinamides, sulfonamides, and sulfonimidamides are valuable motifs in medicinal chemistry, yet methods to synthesize alkyl variants from simple, readily available feedstocks remain scarce. In this report, we detail the synthesis of these three distinct sulfur functional groups, using readily available and structurally diverse alkyl carboxylic acids as the starting materials. The method harnesses alkyl radical generation from carboxylic acids using commercial iron salts and visible light irradiation, in combination with commercial sulfinylamine reagents, to deliver alkyl sulfinamide products. The method is operationally simple and scalable, exhibits broad functional group tolerance, and is translatable to continuous-flow synthesis. Furthermore, it facilitates late-stage diversification of complex molecules, highlighting its potential utility in medicinal chemistry applications.
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
First go at some NY-style bagels…
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Ivan's and Charlie's sulfonimidamide article has been selected as a Chemical Science HOT paper! Check out the full collection at rsc.li/3GJTz2h and read our paper here: pubs.rsc.org/doi/D5SC02420J #ChemSciHOT
rsc.li
2025 Chemical Science HOT Article Collection Home
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Reposted by Michael Willis
University of Bath Chemistry @bathchem.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
🧪 Celebrating 25 years of Chemistry in 1 South at the University of Bath 🎉 Talks from alumni + familiar faces, then food + music as the sun sets. 🌇 Good vibes. Great people. 📆 Register by Sept 1 💷 £20 / £10 (students) thanks to our sponsors 🙌 🔗 www.chem25.co.uk #Chem25 #UniOfBath #Chemistry
chem25.co.uk
Chem25@Bath | 25 Years of Discovery, Innovation & Community in 1 South
Chem25: Marking 25 Years of Innovation in the 1 South Chemistry Building, University of Bath
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Great to see Ivan and Charlie's work on the synthesis and reactivity of vinyl sulfonimidamides out in @chemicalscience.rsc.org Here they show that reactivity either above or below that of the corresponding acrylamide can be achieved. @oxfordchemistry.bsky.social pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
pubs.rsc.org
Synthesis and functionalization of vinyl sulfonimidamides and their potential as electrophilic warheads
Covalent inhibitor design is dominated by the use of electrophilic acrylamide warheads. One limitation of acrylamides is that there are limited opportunities to modify their electrophilicity, and henc...
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
It’s a sourdough morning.
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Fantastic news that our joint publication with Gabriel Schäfer and colleagues from Idorsia, on Sandmeyer chlorosulfonylation using DABSO, has been selected as the Organic Letters publication of the year for 2024. axial.acs.org/organic-chem...
axial.acs.org
Meet the Winners of the 2025 Organic Letters Outstanding Publication of the Year Award | ACS Publications Chemistry Blog
Get to know the 2025 recipients, read their winning article, and learn about their plans for building upon their existing research.
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Have moved on to cardamom buns…
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
First attempt at some hot cross buns. Rather rustic looking, but taste good…
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
There are still a couple of days left to apply for fully funded PhD studentship at the CSHP CDT, including a project from my group on catalytic sulfinamide synthesis. Deadline 29th January. cshp-cdt.chem.ox.ac.uk
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Seville orange season means marmalade time.
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
Christmas bike ride
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
I’ve ended up making Stick Man as my @nigella.bsky.social Yule log. Still tasting great.
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 26/11/2023
Well, it’s almost December…
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 01/11/2023
If there’s ever an article for ChemSky…
theguardian.com
From compressed yeast to cream cheese and cornflakes: one man’s search for the world’s greatest ...
Barry Enderwick has recreated more than 700 sandwich recipes from history, dating from 200BC to the present day. What has he learned – and crucially – which are the tastiest?
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Michael Willis @rhpdcu.bsky.social · 15/09/2023
Well here we are. Let’s see how it goes…
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