Dr Michael Hall

m.hall@ncl.ac.uk

Current research is divided into three areas, each of which involves the development of synthetic organic chemistry and its application to problems of biological interest.

  1. The development of new synthetic methodology, based on silicon tethered silatropic ene reactions for the stereoselective synthesis of 1,2- and 1,3- diols (common structural motifs present in natural products, particularly polyketides). We are currently engaged in the application of this methodology to the total synthesis of a number of natural products which demonstrate potent vasodilator activity.
  2. The application of biomimetic approaches to the synthesis of marine natural products and related unnatural structural analogues. This will allow us to explore the biological activity rich chemical space of a number of natural products resulting in libraries of active compounds for potential therapeutic lead generation.
  3. The synthesis of fluorescent switching dyes activated by intracelluar enzymatic processes, allowing imaging of enzymatic activity in living cells and cell phenotyping based on differences in cell type metabolism.