Steven Victor Ley FRS is the BP Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, and is a Fellow of Trinity College. He was President of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2000–2002) and was made a CBE in January 2002. In 2011, he was included by The Times in the list of the “100 most important people in British science”.[1]
His main research field is the total synthesis of biomolecules. His group has published extensively on this topic, and has completed the synthesis of more than 130 natural target compounds, with notable examples including indanamycin, routiennocin, avermectin B1a, okadaic acid, spongistatin, thapsigargin, epothilone A, antascomicin B, bengazole A and rapamycin. His total synthesis of azadirachtin, completed in 2007, is widely regarded as one of the major landmarks in total synthesis. In the course of this work, he has also made substantial advances in many areas of organic chemistry, including the development of new catalysts, protecting groups and reagents. He is one of the inventors of TPAP, a widely employed oxidizing reagent. He has also pioneered the use of immobilized reagents and flow techniques in multi-step organic synthesis. This work now incorporates flow chemistry for multistep organic synthesis applications.
Steve Ley's work of over 730 papers has been recognised by about 40 major prizes and awards, the most recent of which are:
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alan Battersby |
Professor of Organic Chemistry, Cambridge University 1992 - |
Succeeded by incumbent |