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Biography

Professor Will Unsworth MRSC is a senior lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of York, where he moved after completing his PhD at the University of Oxford with Professor Jeremy Robertson. He was first appointed as a postdoctoral research associate at York in the group of Professor Richard Taylor, before starting a Research and Teaching Fellowship in 2013. In 2016 he started his independent career as a Leverhulme Trust early career fellow, and then later as holder of the inaugural Eleanor Dodson Fellowship.  His current major research interests include ring expansion approaches for the synthesis of medium-sized rings and macrocycles and biocatalysis. Will has published over 100 research papers and has won several prizes for his research, most notably the RSC Hickinbottom Award for his work on the synthesis of spirocycles and macrocycles.

I will always maintain that the people we train are the most important outputs from academic research labs, above and beyond any of the new discoveries we make and the methods we develop.

Will Unsworth

Q&A

Can you tell us more about your work?

Chemical reactions that can selectively add oxygen atoms to small molecules (oxidations) are important for industrial pharmaceutical production but often use harsh reaction conditions and/or toxic chemical reagents. Enzymes, however, operate under mild, non-toxic conditions to achieve equivalent, and often superior outcomes. In collaboration with Professor Gideon Grogan – a colleague at the University of York – our research team has focused on developing new chemical reactions mediated by family of oxidation enzymes called ‘Unspecific Peroxygenases’ (UPOs). In doing so, we have developed several new processes in which UPOs exhibit superior catalytic performance in terms of stability, activity and operational simplicity compared to traditional oxidation methods. Thus, UPOs have great potential for use in industrial oxidations, especially in pharmaceuticals.

Who or what first sparked your interest in chemistry, and how has that interest evolved over time? 

I always enjoyed science and maths subjects at school and have benefited from lots of great teachers. At Southlands High School, Mr Pearson, Mr Cubbon and Miss Foulkes are especially memorable, and during A-levels at Runshaw College, Kevin Wright, John Jones and Phil Taylor. Studying chemistry at St Edmund Hall, Oxford then really solidified that chemistry – and especially organic chemistry – is what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing!

What has been the most rewarding or memorable highlight of your career so far? 

Seeing postdocs, PhD students and Master’s students who have worked in the lab going on bigger and better things after leaving York. I will always maintain that the people we train are the most important outputs from academic research labs, above and beyond any of the new discoveries we make and the methods we develop. 

What impact would you say that your work is having on your field and/or the wider world? 

This is perhaps more for others to say, but I'd like to think we are playing our small part in expanding the art of organic synthesis, and making the synthesis of challenging bioactive molecules a little bit easier and more sustainable. 

In what ways does creativity influence how you think about or carry out your work? 

The detail and precision often involved in doing chemistry research means it is sometimes easy to think there is little room for creativity. But I would argue that creativity it is THE most important part of chemistry research. As researchers, we are trying and do something that has never been done or imagined before – for me, this requires just as much imagination and creativity as is needed to be a successful artist, writer or musician. Creativity is vital to good science. 

What does good research culture mean to you, and why does it matter? 

Treating people well and ensuring that research is fun for everyone in the team. I strongly believe that as academics, the people we train are more important than the research we do. Therefore, good research culture – and providing an environment where everyone can thrive and be happy – is of paramount importance. From my Master’s project and PhD in Oxford, to my postdoc and to this day, I have always loved going into work. I want the same for everyone the team – happy people do the best research!

How can scientists try to improve the environmental sustainability of research? Can you give us any examples from your own experience or context? 

Environmental sustainability is very much at the heart of our work on the development of new biocatalytic oxidation reactions. For example, replacing chemical oxidation methods – which often use toxic reagents and organic solvents – with non-hazardous enzyme mediated oxidation reactions that operate in water. Environmental sustainability is also a key driver for our work on macrocycle synthesis. In this work, our ring expansion methods can enable macrocycles to be prepared using vastly reduced solvent volumes (typically 10-100 fold) compared to the high-dilution methods commonly used for classical end-to-end macrocyclisation. 

How important would you say collaboration is for producing high quality science? How has collaboration influenced your work? 

If you'd told me at the start of my independent academic career that I would go on to win a prize for work in enzyme-mediated synthesis it is safe to say that I would not have believed you! Collaboration has been an extremely important influence in almost all of our lab's research and vital in expanding our horizons. For our enzyme work, none of it would be possible without outstanding collaborators in enzymology (especially Gideon Grogan) and plant natural product biosynthesis (Benjy Lichman). Our work on organic synthesis more broadly has also benefited hugely from key contributions from many amazing collaborators, both internally in York (e.g. Taylor, Lynam, O'Brien, Fairlamb, Willans, Spicer, Fascione and Parkin to name a few!) and externally (e.g. Petersen, Goss, You, Elmes). None of us can know everything and almost all of the best science requires a range of knowledge and expertise that no one person can possess. Finding good collaborators – and being open to saying 'yes' to new opportunities, even if they are fields that you do not fully understand – is my number advice for any young researcher! 

What is your favourite element and why? 

Carbon – because I'll always be an organic chemist!