Everything we're doing

Ross' work on divalent lanthanide reductive chemistry with 4,4′-bipyridine and pyridine is now live in Chemical Science: "One- and Two-Electron Coordinatively-Induced Reduction of N-Heterocycles by Divalent Rare Earth Terphenyl Anilide Complexes".

The group's first collaboration with the Baker group is now on ChemRxiv: "Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering covalency analysis reveals non-Aufbau electronic configurations in low-valent lanthanides".

Work from Conrad's time at Los Alamos compairing transuranium electronic structure and bonding in organometallic complexes is now on ChemRxiv: "Actinide Tris(tetramethylcyclopentadienide) Complexes: Bonding and Electronic Structures Across the Isostructural [An(C₅Me₄H)₃] (An = Th, U, Np, Pu, Am) Series".

Ross passes his viva to become the first PhD graduate from the group! Many thanks to Prof. Grégory Nocton as the external examiner, and Prof. David Mills as the internal, and also to Heather Partlow for the expert-level cake, and everyone for the gifts.

Along with Lucy and Modinat, the group organised three evenings of science outreach as part of Pint of Science 26. Many thanks to Meagan and Sam for their Electron Ejector! and Sandbar Withington for hosting us, and all the speakers.

Charlotte (Charly) joins the group for an undergraduate research internship from the Szych group (Münster). She will be working with Ross on rare earth soft-donor complexes.

Orry, Cameron, Liam, and Ross attend the Dalton Younger Members Event (DYME) 2026 in Southampton.

Ross' work exploring the redox chemistry of divalent rare earth complexes, and their reactivity with 4,4′-bipyridine and pyridine is now on ChemRxiv: "One- and Two-Electron Coordinatively-Induced Reduction of N-Heterocycles by Divalent Rare Earth Terphenyl Anilide Complexes".

The group visits "Flight Club" for a few rounds of darts after work.

Iulia attends the 59^th Annual International Meeting of the ESR Spectroscopy Group in Colchester and wins a prize for her poster. Go Iulia!

Work from Conrad's PhD goes live on ChemRxiv: "Reactions of a uranium(III) complex with N-heterocycles to form diuranium(IV) ketimides", in collaboration with the Liddle Group. We describe the formation of diuranium(IV) ketimide complexes and their electronic structures.

Liam attends the RSC Main Group Interest Group Annual Meeting and AGM in Edinburgh and presents his work on comparing cyclopentadienide and phospholide ligands in low-valent rare-earth chemistry.

Ross becomes the first group member to complete their PhD, with his thesis handed in and final viva set!

Liam's work on Sc(II) sandwich complexes is now live on ChemRxiv: "Orbital Mixing Induced Stabilisation of Divalent Scandium Sandwich Complexes". We compare the electronic structure and stability of Sc(II) complexes using either phospholide or cyclopentadienide ligands, finding that decreased symmetry in the phospholide system enhances covalency and stability.

Kaitlin and Stanley attend the International Spring School 2026: “The Chemistry of f-Elements” in Dresden.

We welcome comment on our latest preprint ready on ChemRxiv: "Uranocenium – The bis-[8]annulene Uranium Cation". In this project we complete the longstanding analogy between ferrocene and uranocene by isolating the first uranocene cation, and describe an unusual electronic structure that renders it's electrochemistry is remarkably similar to that of ferrocene.

Ben's work on a four-coordinate dysprosium SMM that displays hysteresis at 31 K is published in Journal of the American Chemical Society! Record-setting performance for a non-sandwich complex. See: "Magnetic Hysteresis at 31 K in a Four-Coordinate Dysprosium(III) Amide Complex".

Ben leads our latest high oxidation state f-element chemistry in "Synthesis, Redox Chemistry, and Electronic Structures of Bis-di(silylamido)silane f-Element Complexes" out today in Inorganic Chemistry (DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5c03345).

Conrad, Ben (Réant), Liam, Ross, and Orry attended Terrae Rarae – 33. Tage der Seltenen Erden at KIT in Karlsruhe (Germany), after severe travel disruption that saw half the group spend time in four countries in one day.

We also welcome Iulia Turcas (PGR) working with us jointly alongside Prof. McInnes and Winpenny EPR spectroscopy of f-element complexes.

The group welcomes new members Kaitlin Makin-Robinson (PGR), Stanley Bagio (PGR, jointly with Dr. Bowen), and Ben Mullock (MChem – "BenChem"). Stanley and Ben join Liam and Cameron on low oxidation state organometallic chemistry, while Kaitlin joins Ben (Réant) and Orry working on high oxidation state chemistry.

Transuranium organometallic chemistry is featured on the front cover of Nature Reviews Chemistry issue 9 (link). A free to view version of the article can be found here (https://rdcu.be/eABFQ).

We are delighted to share our review article on Transuranium organometallic chemistry out today in Nature Reviews Chemistry (DOI: 10.1038/s41570-025-00732-4). The Review celebrates the evolution of non-aqueous and organometallic chemistry with the elements beyond uranium and how the field has advanced in the almost 80 years since the "actinide" concept was first by Seaborg.

Bonus content! During our work on bis-di(silylamido)silane f-element complexes, we found the Dy(III) analogue is a record-setting single molecule magnet (SMM) with a hysteresis temperature of 31 K but, more remarkably, it is a rare example of a non-metallocene SMM with a 100-second blocking temperature above 4 K. Please see the preprint on ChemRxiv: Magnetic Hysteresis at 31 K in a Four-Coordinate Dysprosium(III) Amide Complex. DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-m8q8l.

We invite comments on the group's first foray into high oxidation state f-element chemistry, now available on ChemRxiv: Synthesis, Redox Chemistry, and Electronic Structures of bis-di(silylamido)silane f-element Complexes. DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-4v72t.

Ross attends the Dalton Northern conference in Lancaster and delivers a talk. Thanks to the organizers!

Conrad and Dave Mills were invited to deliver teaching lectures at the Eddleman Quantum Institute-hosted summer school before the 30^th Rare Earth Research Conference. Conrad delivered a research talk at the main conference.

Ross gives his final year presentation at the UoM Chemistry Postgraduate Research Symposium, and wins a "best presentation" prize for his talk on low oxidation state rare earth complexes!

Conrad has been promoted to Senior Lecturer, many thanks to all the group for their hard work, and to very supportive colleagues!

Conrad gives an invited research talk at the Freie Universität Berlin and shared the latest results by the group to an awesome audience. Many thanks to Prof. Dr. Nina Huittinen for the invite, and to Mathias and Josh for showing off the Berlin night life.

The group is advertising two funded PhD studentships working on interdisciplinary fundamental f-element chemistry. These projects blend both synthesis and physical characterisation through EPR spectroscopy and advanced synchrotron beamline X-ray spectroscopic techniques. The balance between synthesis and spectroscopy is flexible and depends upon the candidate.

(1) Rare Earth Covalency and Electronic Structure Quantification with Advanced X-ray Spectroscopy (applications must be submitted by April 21st).(Closed)
(2) Probing the f→d transition in lanthanide ions for qubit switching (Closed)

The first project will explore the bonding and electronic, structure of rare earth complexes in the formal 2+ oxidation state and involves two years research in Manchester, and two years research in Peking University with Prof. Wenliang Huang with travel to international beamlines throughout. The second project aims to gain a better understanding of the electronic structure of Ce(III) molecules and to engineer their properties for potential qubit candidates. Please reach out to Conrad directly for more information.

Liam, Ross, Cameron, Orry, and Conrad attend Dalton 2025 at Warwick and Ross wins the group's first poster prize!

Ben's first research article in the group has been published in Inorganic Chemistry. Congratulations to all!

Conrad gives an invited research talk at the University of Greenwich and shared the latest results by Ross and Ben to a new audience. Many thanks to Xacobe and Ewan for the invite.

The group is pleased to announce two funded PhD studentships ready to be filled by aspiring synthetic chemists who want to explore the basement of the periodic table and work on some interdisciplinary fundamental chemistry.

(1) MAX-FOX – Maximising f-element oxidation states (filled)
(2) Probing the f→d transition in lanthanide ions for qubit switching

The first project aims to unlock new high oxidation state f-element chemistry, the second aims to gain a better understanding of the electronic structure of Ce(III) molecules and to engineer their properties for potential qubit molecules. Please reach out to Conrad directly for more information.

We also welcome both Iain Cameron and Charlie Moir to the group. Iain is co-supervised by Dr Goodwin, jointly with Profs McInnes and Winpenny working on f-element EPR spectroscopy, whilst Charlie is a University of Manchester and Tsinghua Dual-Award PhD student working in the Baker group and co-supervised by Dr Goodwin along with Profs. Hanshi Hu and Jun Li at Tsinghua and will study f-element electronic structure using synchrotron experiments and computational chemistry.

The group has been awarded a Royal Society Research Grant to explore the use of cerium spectroscopy for the prediction of rare earth redox chemistry.

New PDRA Liam and PhD researcher Orry begin their time at Manchester. Welcome both and we can't wait to see what you get up to!

The group celebrates securing a European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC StG). Details of upcoming positions will be posted when available. We also welcomed both Liam and Orry on their first group social to Nells @ Kampus for some giant pizzas to celebrate.

Conrad and Darren (website) had the honor of hosting the 2024 Dalton Northern Regional Meeting at Manchester. Due to the immense work of the Chemistry Operations team, along with support on the day from Ben, Ross, and Cameron, it went off without a hitch. Congratulations to the poster prize winners, and thank you to the RSC Dalton Division and Andrew Jupp for holding his 2024 Frankland Award Lecture at the meeting.

Ross's first paper, "δ-Bonding Modulates the Electronic Structure of Formally Divalent nd¹ Rare Earth Arene Complexes", has just been accepted in Chemical Science. Congratulations to all involved, and be on the look out for more!

Cameron's first paper has been accepted in the Journal of Organometallic Chemistry as part of their New Developments in Rare Earth Organometallic Chemistry issue. Congratulations to all involved! See the full article here

Ben's first paper with the group is now live on ChemRxiv (here). This work features multiple new uranium-thiolate and borohydride complexes using a bulky meta-terphenyl ligand system.

The group celebrates Harry's graduation and congratulates him on the excellent grades!

Conrad travels to China as part of the University of Manchester delegation to the Tsinghua Xuetang Chemistry Program, and gives research talks at Tsinghua, Peking, and Zhengzhou Universities.

More work from Conrad's time at LANL has appeared in Journal of the American Chemical Society: "N-Heterocyclic Carbene to Actinide d-Based π-bonding Correlates with Observed Metal–Carbene Bond Length Shortening Versus Lanthanide Congeners". In collaboration with Nik Kaltsoyannis, we found that M–NHC π-bonding to actinides, but not lanthanides, in [M(C₅Me₅)₂(I){C(NMeCMe)₂}] complexes seems to drive substantial actinide bond length shortening versus lanthanide examples, even out to americium where "lanthanide-like" behaviour usually dominates.

We are pleased to announce that our recent vacancy for a PDRA position has been filled. More details to come, but we look forward to this excellent researcher joining the group.

We invite comments on our first ChemRxiv deposit: "δ-Bonding versus Electron Localization in Formally Divalent Rare Earth Complexes". This is Ross's first project, and the group's first foray into low oxidation state rare-earth chemistry. Check out rare examples of Sc(II), Y(II), and La(II).

Work from Conrad's time at LANL, led by Jesse and in collaboration with Steve Liddle at UoM has now appeared in Journal of the American Chemical Society: "Carbene Complexes of Plutonium: Structure, Bonding, and Divergent Reactivity to Lanthanide Analogs". Metal–carbon multiple bonding now extends up to plutonium, and excitingly, there are key differences in the reactivity of both these plutonium complexes and the previously reported neptunium analogues to their lanthanide counterparts. Organometallic transuranium chemistry continues to reveal the hidden properties of these elements!

The group is pleased to announce a PDRA (Postdoctoral Research Associate) vacancy. Please check UoM job pages for details at a later date, while the particulars of appointment were circulated with the advert. This position is fully funded for up to 3 years, subject to performance, and will begin in April 2024. Contact Conrad directly for an informal chat.

The group is pleased to announce a fully funded PhD Project: "Valence electron isomerism in the f-block" open to home and EU students to start either April 2024 or September 2024. See the advertisement for details, and contact Conrad directly for an informal chat.

The group celebrates securing an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) New Investigator Award (NIA). Details of the scheme can be found here, and the abstract for the group's award are here. The funding provides an EPSRC-funded Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) position starting in April 2024. Please look out for this job listing and contact Conrad directly.

Dr Ben Reant joins the group in January 2024 as the group's first Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA). Conrad and Ben first worked together during Ben's MChem year, where he wowed everyone with his crystal-growing skills and unflappably positive attitude. We are excited to bring him on board as part of a Royal Society URF-funded position. Many thanks to the Royal Society! Ben's group bio can be found here.

Conrad, Ross, and Cameron attend the Dalton Northern Regional Meeting - 2023. Ross and Cameron presented posters on their work, and Conrad has agreed in principle to host the next Dalton Northern Regional Meeting at Manchester in 2024!

Our computational collaboration with Bess Vlaisavljevich at the University of South Dakota is out in Chemical Science: "What is the nature of the uranium(III)-arene bond?". We hope to have many more collaborations with Bess and her team. See here for the ChemRxiv preprint.

Cory Windorff (New Mexico State University) and Profs. Bill Evans, David Mills, and Thomas Albrecht-Schönzart), and a small team of graduate students and postdocs, publish actinide works spanning from 2015 to 2022 in Inorganic Chemistry: "Stabilization of Pu(IV) in PuBr₄(OPCy₃)₂ and Comparisons with Structurally Similar ThX₄(OPR₃)₂ (R = Cy, Ph) Molecules". Work from Conrad's PhD (2015 visit to UC Irvine) is featured along with a crystallographic contribution. Congratulations Cory!

Cameron Deakin (PhD) and Harry Silver (MChem) join the group as Researchers. Good luck to all!

Conrad attends ICFE-11 in Strasbourg, France, and presented the group's latest work on low oxidation state lanthanide chemistry.

Ross MacKenzie passed his 1st-year transfer viva with no issues and picked up some snazzy EPR skills to boot at the EPSRC National EPR Facility teaching workshop.

Work from Conrad's PDRA time at LANL, working to support Skye Fortier and Andy Gaunt, is out in Chemical Science: "Synthesis and comparison of iso-structural f-block metal complexes (Ce, U, Np, Pu) featuring η⁶-arene interactions". Congratulations everyone!

Conrad attends Actinides 2023 at Golden, Colorado, giving a talk exclusively on lanthanide chemistry which was enjoyed by all after many technical difficulties.

Conrad and Ross attend Dalton 2023 in Warwick, presenting a talk and a poster.

Former MChem Michaela, and summer researcher Sara feature in the group's first paper! Out in Chemical Communications: "Isostructural σ-hydrocarbyl phospholide complexes of uranium, neptunium, and plutonium", in collaboration with Los Alamos and Manchester's own John Seed. Congratulations everyone.

Ross MacKenzie and Daniel O'Neill join the group as Postgraduate Researchers, and Cameron Deakin joins as a final year MChem student. Good luck to all!