Mike Housden has a background as a synthetic organic chemist with experience working in the research groups of Prof. Ian Paterson and Prof. Matthew Gaunt. His research projects spanned total synthesis of complex natural products and the development of new synthetic methods using transition metal catalysis. Of particular interest is the design of molecular structures for direct application in novel electronic device manufacture, such as organic photovoltaics and OLEDs.
In recent years, Mike has been working collaboratively across STEM Departments in the University, and also with other universities in the UK and internationally, on science curriculum assessment and development for students in the later stages of high school education. He enjoys dabbling in data science and machine learning projects related to this work in the education sector.
At Christ’s, Mike leads supervisions on Organic Chemistry across all four years of the Natural Sciences Tripos. He is passionate about developing new ways to use technology creatively in science education and as part of that ambition he runs the YouTube channel @CasualChemistry.
Selected Publications:
Total synthesis and biological evaluation of simplified aplyronine analogues as synthetically tractable anticancer agents, Chem. Commun., 2020,56, 1529-1532
Toward aplyronine payloads for antibody–drug conjugates: total synthesis of aplyronines A and D, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2018,16, 1343-1350
Synthetic studies toward the brasilinolides: controlled assembly of a protected C1–C38 polyol based on fragment union by complex aldol reactions
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2015,13, 5716-5733
