PhD Studentship: Novel Organosodium Chemistry - Synthesis, Characterisation and Applications in Sustainable Organic Synthesis

Interested in synthetic organometallic chemistry and want to make organic synthesis more sustainable? This is a great opportunity to phase reshape the landscape of both organometallic and organic chemistry – you will contribute to a current global trend of phasing out the textbook organolithium reagents (e.g., n-butyl lithium) and replacing it with the more sustainable sodium-version.

Lithium is a critical resource with only 0.002% crustal abundance. A substantial amount of Li is used to manufacture organolithium reagents, which are used in every chemistry laboratory in academia and industry. Replacing the Li with Na (2.6% crustal abundance) would have obvious and significant benefits, both in sustainability and in cost. The sodium era is looming in the battery industry (Na-ion batteries replacing Li-ion batteries). But in synthetic chemistry, such a switch to Na has only been happening since 2023, led by the Erli Lu group (e.lu@bham.ac.uk) and others. This is due to the underdeveloped fundamental organosodium chemistry.

In this project, you will fully develop the organosodium chemistry. You will receive hands-on intense training in research skills. Specifically, you will grow into an expert in anaerobic synthesis (Schlenk line and glovebox) and multiple spectroscopies (NMR, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, UV/Vis, IR). Other than the experimental skills, you will have the opportunity to develop computational skills on the Lu Group computation platform, under the supervision of Dr Lu, the group computational postdoctoral researcher, and external collaborators. The expertise and experience will be invaluable asset for your further career development, in both academia and industry.

Dr Lu endeavours to create an encouraging, inclusive and self-motivating research culture. You will have versatile opportunities for learning and personal development, such as participating and representing your work on national and international conferences, and attending workshops for learning new techniques. We encourage all the PhD students in the Lu Group to attend at least one conference/workshop per year.

A minimum 2:1 (for UK universities) or equivalent oversea degree in Chemistry or related areas is needed.

Applications will close when the successful candidate is recruited. 

References:

For the publications from the Lu group, see: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Pt07eScAAAAJ&hl=en 

Funding Details

Additional Funding Information 

The project is funded by University of Birmingham. UK home-rate tuition fee and UKRI-level stipend will be covered.

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