Thomas Storr is a Lecturer in Organic Chemistry with research interests centred around the use of transition metal catalysts to develop new and sustainable organic synthetic methodologies. See the Storr Group Website for further details.

Thomas is originally from Darlington in the North East of England. He began studying Chemistry at the University of York, completing his MChem with a year in industry (F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, CH) in 2006. Continuing at the University of York, Thomas obtained his PhD working under the supervision of Prof. Ian Fairlamb and Dr Christoph Baumann. He then pursued his interest in organic synthesis by taking up postdoctoral research posts with Prof. Bert Maes (Antwerp, BE), Prof. Michael Greaney (Manchester, UK) and Prof. Robert Stockman (Nottingham, UK). In 2017, Thomas started his current post at the University of East Anglia.

The Storr Group research interests lie first and foremost with development of novel synthetic methodology, with particular emphasis upon improving current processes with respect to applicability, sustainability and molecular/procedural economy. Current research is focused on the selective functionalisation of carbon-hydrogen bonds, utilising dual catalytic systems and the development of earth abundant metal-catalysed processes.

Selected Publications

Versatile C(sp²)-C(sp³) Ligand Couplings of Sulfoxides for the Enantioselective Synthesis of Diarylalkanes.
W. M. Dean, M. Šiaučiulis, T. E. Storr, W. Lewis, R. A. Stockman; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2016, 55, 10013-10016.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201602264

Facile Access to a Heterocyclic, sp³-Rich Chemical Scaffold via a Tandem Condensation/Intramolecular Nitrone–Alkene [3+2] Cycloaddition Strategy.
M. J. Rawling, T. E. Storr, W. A. Bawazir, S. J. Cully, W. Lewis, M. S. I. T. Makki, I. R. Strutt, G. Jones, D. Hamza and R. A. Stockman; Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 12867-12870.
DOI: 10.1039/C5CC05070G

Palladium Catalyzed Arylation of Simple Arenes with Iodonium Salts.
T. E. Storr, M. F. Greaney; Org. Lett., 2013, 15, 1410–1413.
DOI: 10.1021/ol400412z

On the Appearance of Nitrite Anion in [PdX(OAc)L₂] and [Pd(X)(C^N)L] Syntheses (X = OAc or NO2): Photocrystallographic Identification of Metastable Pd(η¹-ONO)(C^N)PPh₃.
S. E. Bajwa, T. E. Storr, L. E. Hatcher, T. J. Williams, C. G. Baumann, A. C. Whitwood, D. R. Allan, S. J. Teat, P. R. Raithby, I. J. S. Fairlamb; Chem. Sci., 2012, 3, 1656–1661.
DOI: 10.1039/C2SC01050J

Pd(0)/Cu(I)-Mediated Direct Arylation of 2′-Deoxyadenosines: Mechanistic Role of Cu(I) and Reactivity Comparisons with Related Purine Nucleosides.
T. E. Storr, C. G. Baumann, R. J. Thatcher, S. De Ornellas, A. C. Whitwood, I. J. S. Fairlamb; J. Org. Chem., 2009, 74, 5810–5821 (Featured Article).
DOI: 10.1021/jo9012282

Synthetic organic chemistry is a truly irreplaceable field of science, where the production of almost any molecular entity devised can be accomplished. Although the molecular construction ‘tool box’ is effective there remains inadequacies associated with specificity, selectivity and efficiency. To address this, metal-catalysis promises the removal of extraneous chemical transformations from multistep syntheses, allowing more concise overall processes. This ability to reduce the economic and time cost of complex molecular syntheses is highly favourable in light of the current need to accommodate for an increasingly sustainable chemical future. The groups research will investigate new ways in which molecules can be constructed delivering significant improvements over contemporary methods. This ability for chemists to discover and develop synthetic methods is based upon fundamental mechanistic understanding. With this in mind, the design synthesis and evaluation of new and effective homogeneous, heterogeneous and dual catalytic systems is a continuing goal for the Storr Research Group. To exemplify the applicability of the synthetic methodologies generated, the synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant molecules and natural products is achieved utilising these new tools.