Almac Sciences and University College Dublin BROADEN Continuous Flow Chemistry Collaboration

Strengthened collaboration with University College Dublin (UCD) that will focus on the development of novel continuous flow protocols for accessing new industrially relevant drug targets.

The new project, entitled “BROADEN”, involves continuous flow in-situ Bromination for Application in the synthesis of Drugs and thEir buildiNg blocks. These are among the most fundamental transformations in organic chemistry, allowing the functionalisation of simple substrate molecules to become advanced building blocks for today’s drugs.

Successful completion of BROADEN will result in a competitive edge for chemical manufacturing in Ireland including societal impacts through improved access to cheaper chemicals and medicines, economic impacts (lowering cost of goods, shorter processes, less waste) and improved sustainability metrics.

This is a four-year project, co-funded by Almac Sciences and the Irish Research Council, through their enterprise partnership scheme.  It will develop methods that generate bromine from benign precursors and through continuous flow approaches, immediately consume the reactive intermediate in a variety of industrially relevant chemical transformations. The project expands the existing collaboration with Dr Marcus Baumann at UCD where a range of projects utilising continuous flow for both oxidations and enzyme mediated transformations are ongoing.  

Davin Cronly, PhD student at UCD, said: “This research is exciting as there is the potential to develop innovative solutions to complex scientific challenges. I want to use my knowledge as a chemist to make a real impact on the lives of those around me and I am looking forward to spending time at Almac Sciences to learn from industrial experts.”

Dr Megan Smyth, Team Leader and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, Almac Sciences commented: “We are delighted to welcome Davin to the collaborative team we have established between Almac Sciences and UCD. I look forward to mentoring and working closely with Davin in the development of novel continuous flow protocols, applying/disseminating these outputs into industrial best-practice and wish him every success in his studies.”