Stuart James

Solvents are normally assumed to be essential in chemical synthesis and are consequently used ubiquitously on very large scales. However, solvents are expensive, toxic, hazardous and require large amounts of energy to produce, purify and recycle. Mechanochemistry, in which chemical synthesis is done by grinding together solid reagents, can provide a solution to these problems. Although still surprising to many chemists, in recent years it has been demonstrated that many chemical reactions can be performed effectively by grinding together solid reagents with little or no solvent (Chem. Soc. Rev. 2012, 41, 413). We are currently pursuing: i. better fundamental understanding of how mechanochemistry works at microscopic and molecular scales (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201706723; Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 1585), and ii. techniques such as twin screw extrusion to scale up and commercialise this chemistry (see EPSRC funding,  spin out company MOF Technologies, and recent papers Chem. Sci.2015, 6, 1645; Green Chem., 2017, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C6GC03413F)

1. Greener Dye Synthesis: Continuous, Solvent-Free Synthesis of Commodity Perylene Diimides by Twin-Screw Extrusion Cao, Q. Crawford, DE; ; Shi, CC; James, S.L. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 4478. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201913625.
2. Insights into mechanochemical reactions at the molecular level: simulated indentations of aspirin and meloxicam crystals Ferguson, M; Moyano, MS; Tribello, GA ; Crawford, DE ; Bringa, EM; James, S.L. Kohanoff, J; Del Popolo, MG; Chem. Sci. 2019, 10, 2924. DOI: 10.1039/c8sc04971h.
3. Feedback Kinetics in Mechanochemistry: The Importance of Cohesive States Hutchings, BP; Crawford, DE; Gao, L; Hu, PJ; James, S.L. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 1525. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201706723.
4. Synthesis by extrusion: continuous, large-scale preparation of MOFs using little or no solvent Crawford, D; Casaban, J; Haydon, R; Giri, N; McNally, T ; James, S.L. Chem. Sci. 2015, 6, 1645. DOI: 10.1039/c4sc03217a
5. Better understanding of mechanochemical reactions: Raman monitoring reveals surprisingly simple 'pseudo-fluid' model for a ball milling reaction Ma, XH; Yuan, WB; Bell, SEJ; James, S.L. Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 1585. DOI: 10.1039/c3cc47898j.

1. Type 3 porous liquids based on non-ionic liquid phases - a broad and tailorable platform of selective, fluid gas sorbents Cahir, J; Tsang, MY ; Lai, BB ; Hughes, D ; Alam, MA ; Jacquemin, J ; Rooney, D; James, S.L. Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 2077. DOI: 10.1039/c9sc05770f
2. Liquids with permanent porosity Giri, N; Del Popolo, MG ; Melaugh, G ; Greenaway, RL ; Ratzke, K ; Koschine, T ; Pison, L; Gomes, MFC; Cooper, AI; James, S.L. Nature 2015, 527, 216. DOI: 10.1038/nature16072
3. Designing and understanding permanent microporosity in liquids Melaugh, G; Giri, N; Davidson, CE; James, S.L.; Del Popolo, MG Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2014, 16, 9422. DOI: 10.1039/c4cp00582a
4. Alkylated organic cages: from porous crystals to neat liquids Giri, N; Davidson, CE ; Melaugh, G ; Del Popolo, MG ; Jones, JTA; Hasell, T; Cooper, AI ; Horton, PN; Hursthouse, M; James, S.L. Chem. Sci. 2012, 3, 2153. DOI: 10.1039/c2sc01007k.
5. A metal complex that imitates a micelle Giri, N ; James, S.L. Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 245. DOI: 10.1039/c0cc00648c

Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6554-0345
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