School of Chemistry
 

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Liam Ball

Associate Professor, Faculty of Science

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Biography

Liam read undergraduate chemistry at the University of Bristol, conducting final-year research with Dr Chris Russell in the field of main group synthesis. Upon completion of his MSci in 2009, Liam began Ph.D. studies under the co-supervision of Dr Chris Russell and Prof. Guy Lloyd-Jones FRS. During this time, his research concerned the development and mechanistic investigation of gold-catalysed coupling methodologies. In December 2013, Liam relocated to Edinburgh to conduct post-doctoral research with Prof. Guy Lloyd-Jones FRS on mechanistic aspects of palladium catalysis. Liam was appointed to the post of Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry at the School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, in July 2015.

Research Summary

The exploitation of mechanistic insight to inform the development of efficient, catalytic approaches to carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond-formation is a central research theme in the Ball… read more

Selected Publications

  • SENIOR, AARON, RUFFELL, KATIE and BALL, LIAM T., 2023. meta-Selective C-H arylation of phenols via regiodiversion of electrophilic aromatic substitution NATURE CHEMISTRY. 15(3), 386-+
  • RUFFELL, KATIE, GALLEGOS, LILIANA C., LING, KENNETH B., PATON, ROBERT S. and BALL, LIAM T., 2022. Umpolung Synthesis of Pyridyl Ethers by Bi-V-Mediated O-Arylation of Pyridones ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION. 61(51), e202212873
  • CALCATELLI, ALESSIO, DENTON, ROSS M. and BALL, LIAM T., 2022. Modular Synthesis of alpha,alpha-Diaryl alpha-Amino Esters via Bi(V)-Mediated Arylation/SN2-Displacement of Kukhtin-Ramirez Intermediates ORGANIC LETTERS. 24(43), 8002-8007
  • RUFFELL, KATIE, ARGENT, STEPHEN P., LING, KENNETH B. and BALL, LIAM T., 2022. Bismuth-Mediated alpha-Arylation of Acidic Diketones with ortho-Substituted Boronic Acids ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION. 61(40), e202210840

Current Research

The exploitation of mechanistic insight to inform the development of efficient, catalytic approaches to carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond-formation is a central research theme in the Ball group. Although accurate prediction of molecular function from structure alone remains a challenge across all areas of synthetic chemistry, it is particularly difficult in the field of homogeneous catalysis: any given feature of a catalyst that benefits one step of a cycle, such as its ligand sphere or oxidation state, may have a lesser or an opposing effect in subsequent steps. Our approach is to use the tools of physical organic chemistry - including isotopic labelling, kinetic studies and analysis of structure-activity relationships - to gain an understanding of a reaction's mechanism and to quantify the requirements of the catalyst. This insight provides the basis for both informed catalyst optimisation and, ultimately, de novo reaction design.

Please see the group web-site for further information.

  • SENIOR, AARON, RUFFELL, KATIE and BALL, LIAM T., 2023. meta-Selective C-H arylation of phenols via regiodiversion of electrophilic aromatic substitution NATURE CHEMISTRY. 15(3), 386-+
  • RUFFELL, KATIE, GALLEGOS, LILIANA C., LING, KENNETH B., PATON, ROBERT S. and BALL, LIAM T., 2022. Umpolung Synthesis of Pyridyl Ethers by Bi-V-Mediated O-Arylation of Pyridones ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION. 61(51), e202212873
  • CALCATELLI, ALESSIO, DENTON, ROSS M. and BALL, LIAM T., 2022. Modular Synthesis of alpha,alpha-Diaryl alpha-Amino Esters via Bi(V)-Mediated Arylation/SN2-Displacement of Kukhtin-Ramirez Intermediates ORGANIC LETTERS. 24(43), 8002-8007
  • RUFFELL, KATIE, ARGENT, STEPHEN P., LING, KENNETH B. and BALL, LIAM T., 2022. Bismuth-Mediated alpha-Arylation of Acidic Diketones with ortho-Substituted Boronic Acids ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION. 61(40), e202210840
  • SWAN, CHARLIE, MAGGI, LORENZO, PARK, MAHRI, TAYLOR, SOPHIE, SHEPHERD, WILLIAM and BALL, LIAM T., 2022. Generation of Thiyl Radicals from Air-Stable, Odorless Thiophenol Surrogates: Application to Visible-Light-Promoted C-S Cross-Coupling SYNTHESIS-STUTTGART. 54(15), 3399-3408
  • BARBER, THOMAS and BALL, LIAM T., 2021. Synthesis of tert-Alkyl Phosphines: Preparation of Di-(1- adamantyl)phosphonium Trifluoromethanesulfonate and Tri-(1-adamantyl)phosphine ORGANIC SYNTHESES. 98,
  • BUERGER, MARCEL, EHRHARDT, NADINE, BARBER, THOMAS, BALL, LIAM T., NAMYSLO, JAN C., JONES, PETER G. and WERZ, DANIEL B., 2021. Phosphine-Catalyzed Aryne Oligomerization: Direct Access to alpha,omega-Bisfunctionalized Oligo(ortho-arylenes) JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 143(40), 16796-16803
  • BALL, LIAM T. and SENIOR, AARON, 2021. Bismuth(V)-Mediated C-H Arylation of Phenols and Naphthols SYNLETT. 32(03), 235-240
  • RUFFELL, KATIE and BALL, LIAM T., 2020. Organobismuth Redox Manifolds: Versatile Tools for Synthesis TRENDS IN CHEMISTRY. 2(10), 867-869
  • BALL, LIAM T., CORRIE, TOM J. A., CRESSWELL, ALEXANDER J. and LLOYD-JONES, GUY C., 2020. Kinetic Analysis of Domino Catalysis: A Case Study on Gold-Catalyzed Arylation ACS CATALYSIS. 10(18), 10420-10426
  • BARBER, THOMAS, ARGENT, STEPHEN P. and BALL, LIAM T., 2020. Expanding Ligand Space: Preparation, Characterization, and Synthetic Applications of Air-Stable, Odorless Di-tert-alkylphosphine Surrogates ACS CATALYSIS. 10(10), 5454-5461
  • JURRAT, MARK, POINTER-GLEADHILL, BENJAMIN J., BALL, LIAM T., CHAPMAN, ANDY and ADRIAENSSENS, LOUIS, 2020. Polyurethanes and Polyallophanates via Sequence-Selective Copolymerization of Epoxides and Isocyanates JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 142(18), 8136-8141
  • JURRAT, MARK, MAGGI, LORENZO, LEWIS, WILLIAM and BALL, LIAM T., 2020. Modular bismacycles for the selective C-H arylation of phenols and naphthols NATURE CHEMISTRY. 12(3), 260-+
  • MAGNE, VALENTIN and BALL, LIAM T., 2019. Synthesis of Air-stable, Odorless Thiophenol Surrogates via Ni-Catalyzed C-S Cross-Coupling CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL. 25(37), 8903-8910
  • CORRIE, TOM J. A., BALL, LIAM T., RUSSELL, CHRISTOPHER A. and LLOYD-JONES, GUY C., 2017. Au-Catalyzed Biaryl Coupling To Generate 5-to 9-Membered Rings: Turnover-Limiting Reductive Elimination versus pi-Complexation JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 139(1), 245-254
  • LLOYD-JONES, GUY C. and BALL, LIAM T., 2014. Self-control tames the coupling of reactive radicals SCIENCE. 345(6195), 381-382
  • BALL, LIAM T., LLOYD-JONES, GUY C. and RUSSELL, CHRISTOPHER A., 2014. Gold-Catalyzed Oxidative Coupling of Arylsilanes and Arenes: Origin of Selectivity and Improved Precatalyst JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 136(1), 254-264
  • STENNETT, TOM E., HEY, THOMAS W., BALL, LIAM T., FLYNN, STEPHANIE R., RADCLIFFE, JAMES E., MCMULLIN, CLAIRE L., WINGAD, RICHARD L. and WASS, DUNCAN F., 2013. N,N-Diphospholylamines-A New Family of Ligands for Highly Active, Chromium-Based, Selective Ethene Oligomerisation Catalysts CHEMCATCHEM. 5(10), 2946-2954
  • BALL, LIAM T., LLOYD-JONES, GUY C. and RUSSELL, CHRISTOPHER A., 2012. Gold-Catalyzed Direct Arylation SCIENCE. 337(6102), 1644-1648
  • AGGARWAL, VARINDER K., BALL, LIAM T., CAROBENE, SIMON, CONNELLY, RICKKI L., HESSE, MATTHEW J., PARTRIDGE, BENJAMIN M., ROTH, PHILIPPE, THOMAS, STEPHEN P. and WEBSTER, MATTHEW P., 2012. Application of the lithiation-borylation reaction to the rapid and enantioselective synthesis of the bisabolane family of sesquiterpenes CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS. 48(74), 9230-9232
  • BALL, LIAM T., LLOYD-JONES, GUY C. and RUSSELL, CHRISTOPHER A., 2012. Gold-Catalysed Oxyarylation of Styrenes and Mono- and gem-Disubstituted Olefins Facilitated by an Iodine(III) Oxidant CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL. 18(10), 2931-2937
  • BALL, LIAM T., GREEN, MICHAEL, LLOYD-JONES, GUY C. and RUSSELL, CHRISTOPHER A., 2010. Arylsilanes: Application to Gold-Catalyzed Oxyarylation of Alkenes ORGANIC LETTERS. 12(21), 4724-4727

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