Sinead Keaveney

PhD UNSW Australia 2013-2016, under the supervision of A/Prof Jason Harper. Postdoctoral Researcher at RWTH Aachen University Germany 2016-2018, working with Prof Franziska Schoenebeck. Macquarie University Research Fellow (MQRF) 2018 - current.

Metal catalysis is one of the most widely used approaches to synthesising organic compounds, with applications in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and materials chemistry industries. The increasing demand for methods that are environmentally friendly and amenable to industrial-scale synthesis has led to a need to develop more efficient, practical and sustainable catalytic approaches.

To address these challenges, my research focuses on applied organometallic catalysis to allow new synthetic methods to be developed. In partcular, I am interested in rationally designing new catalysts to facilitate challenging and high-value chemical transformations, as well as developing long-lived and recyclable catalysts so that these new species are industrially viable. 

To allow new synthetic methods to be developed, detailed mechanistic studies are used to guide catalyst design, to understand trends in chemical reactivity and to direct the choice of experimental parameters (for example, solvent choice). I use a range of different mechanistic tools to provide unique insight into reaction mechanisms, including kinetic analyses, computational studies and a suite X-Ray based techniques.

Undergraduate and HDR student projects focus on the general theme of developing new catalytic transformations that are efficient, sustainable and practical, allowing ready access to high-value chemicals. Potential students can expect to gain experience in complex organic and organometallic synthesis, novel reaction development, a range of analytical techniques (NMR spectroscopy, GC-MS, UV-Vis and IR) as well as how to perform detailed mechanistic and kinetic analyses. Depending on the project, there is also the possibility to perform computational modelling, NMR diffusion measurements and X-ray Scattering or Absorption measurements at the Australian Synchrotron.