Dave Leigh
@ProfDaveLeigh
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Royal Society Research Professor & Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry, University of Manchester, UK. European. molecules・ machines・ magic
Manchester, England
Joined June 2016
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Pinned Tweet
Havana bad day? Brighten it up with this guide to synthetic molecular machines from the brilliant
@acapellascience
🤖❤️🤖
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In
@Nature
, a tape-reading molecule that reads stereochemistry rather than nucleotide codons😃 Congrats to
@YansongRen
@RJamagne
& Dan! Many tks to
@SciCommStudios
for graphics & animation🙏 [📽️:bottom left=tape potential energy surface; right=CD spectrum]
16
227
1K
I can't believe it knots better in
@Nature
! 😃 Congrats to
@FSchaufelberger
, Lucian,
@David_P_August
, Julien &
@JStenlid
👊 Tldr:
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768
It can be overlooked that biomotors are actually catalysts, but how can catalysis of a reaction lead to work being done? In
@FieldenStephen
& Shuntaro open new directions for both catalysis & molecular machine design. Pumped to see this out in
@Nature
!
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711
The seminal 2000 organocatalysis papers from
@dmac68
&
@ListLaboratory
were the 2nd and 1st corresponding author papers from the starting PIs. A reminder to invest in the young!😃
#chemnobel
1
98
596
Endless forms most beautiful: a molecular endless (7-4) knot out in
@NatureChemistry
. Congrats to
@TitchDanon
@FieldenStephen
Jeff, George & Steffen 🪢😃🪢
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43
426
Knotting & weaving are closely related. In
@nature
today a 'sister' paper to Monday's
@NatureChemistry
molecular endless knot. We use what was learnt there to weave polymer chains to form a 2D molecularly woven fabric. Congrats, tks & animations below...
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New animation of an OG chem-fuelled motor-molecule (HD version available for download here: ]. Tks to
@Biocinematics
for the fab video!😃
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Hudlicky's essay made statements on gender, race & mentoring practices that are plain wrong, deeply offensive & against everything we all believe in. Repudiations of the opinions followed quickly with uplifting statements of values from every corner of the chemistry community.1/7
8
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309
Emotional 2 days at
#Leigh30th
. I laughed so much at the stories (& roasting!) I almost broke a rib; I cried at an election result that will make the best-of-best multination philosophy that underpins our group more difficult to maintain. Thanks everyone for coming; it was magic!
5
30
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Advances in synthesis & analysis enable old claims to be reexamined with new tools🔎🕵️ In
@J_A_C_S
,
@AndreiBaluna
@AlbanoGalan
@JustinTJSpence
et al retrace footprints in the sands of history in search of the 1st catenane: was it molecule or merely myth?
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Honoured to accept on behalf of my research group, past and present, this wonderful award from
@GDCh_aktuell
🙏 Thank you so much!😃
August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal for David A. Leigh
Pioneering achievements in the field of nanoscience and work as an ambassador for chemistry honored
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15 nationalities currently in our research group (at the summer bbq yesterday!) 🇦🇺 🇧🇪 🇨🇳 🇪🇬 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇮🇹 🇯🇵 🇲🇾 🇷🇴 🇪🇸 🇸🇪 🇨🇭 🇹🇷 🇬🇧 🇪🇺
#ScienceIsGlobal
5
14
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Out now in
@J_A_C_S
:
@MartinJ_Power
&
@DavidTJMorris
's simple rotaxane alternatives to phosphazene superbases!
3
40
234
Hope over fear; unity over division; science over fiction; truth over lies.
@francesarnold
gets the longest ovation I’ve ever heard at a scientific conference. What an inspiration!
@EuChemS_Congres
#ECC9
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28
232
Our group, past & present, are delighted to be recognised with the 2023 Horizon
#RSCPrize
for Physical Organic Chemistry with the great
@DeanAstumian
&
@EPenocchio
& co for molecular ratcheting; the process that gives chemistry direction!😃
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Last month was the 30th anniversary of my becoming a PI (I started at 14 obv) & grp alumni surprised (& delighted!) me by saying they've organised a LeighGrp
@30
symposium 12-13 Dec. Just seen lineup & its amazing!😊Tks all; couldn't be prouder of you (UK ppl pls postal vote!)
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The Int. Chemistry Olympiad (17/18 yr olds) always features interesting fun science. So I was delighted to see a knotty question from
@TitchDanon
@FieldenStephen
2021
@NatureChemistry
paper in
@RoySocChem
2022 UK Round 1!😃 Most students untangled it OK!👏
6
30
208
Out in
@NatureChemistry
with
@GuillaumeDeBo
grp. Overhand knot substantially increases scission of polymer under tension (≥2.6× faster); deformation by knot tightening activates otherwise unreactive bonds. Congrats
@MinZhangw
@FSchaufelberger
Lucian &Rob!
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27
205
Pumped to see this out in
@NatureNano
! Many congrats to the brilliant
@deant94
@YansongRen
@SalmaKassem
Dan & Ulvi🎉🥂👏 Special thanks to Anna
@SciCommStudios
for the cool video!😍 Free view-only link to paper:
New content online: Pumping between phases with a pulsed-fuel molecular ratchet
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Many thanks to Tulsi
@NatureChemistry
for the beautiful cover design for our 9-crossing molecular composite knot paper: 😀 Here’s what she had to work with..... (btw it’s a completely rendered 3D image, not a real sculpture!).
8
30
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On the Cover of
@NatureChemistry
this month: Nano-Bernie’s Knot New Deal - Topology for all, free at the point of crossing. Pre-existing entanglements covered (obvs!) [Image courtesy of those wags at
@NatureChemistry
😂]
3
19
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Honoured to receive a Royal Medal from
@RoyalSocEd
. Heartfelt thanks to the many superb & dedicated students, postdocs & other co-workers that I’ve had the good fortune to work with
@EdinburghChem
@warwickchem
&
@UoMChemistry
, and that this medal now recognises🙏
We're extremely proud to announce our highly prestigious medal winners 🏆 Recognising exceptional achievement in science, academia and public engagement.
This year's winners include
@ProfDaveLeigh
,
@profadmorris
(
@HDR_UK
), and Dr Julie Welburn
@dynamicMT
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Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) have written to a YR fellowship holder in my lab asking if they’d like to apply for an up to 6 month paid extension of their fellowship. Classy response to the C-19 pandemic by
@dfg_public
. Well played👏
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10
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Out now in
@J_A_C_S
@EPenocchio
@ShuntaroAmano
@ElisabethKreidt
&
@benjamino_acid
put the physics & organic chemistry of catalysis-driven molecular machinery (& related systems) in Perspective😃
0
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Just dropped in
@NatureChemistry
: Fuelproof design tips for molecular machinery, from the desks of
@StefanBorsley
&
@benjamino_acid
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Bob, me & a blue-back deck of cards. Always generous with his time & great fun. Sleep well🙏
2
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Classy author response to a reject-but-resubmit decision
@ChemicalScience
. Let’s all be Referee 2.
6
27
148
By a simple twist of fate today is the b'day of two of the 2016
@NobelPrize
laureates. Happy Birthday
@sirfrasersays
&
@BobDylan
, both through their work forever young🎉🎂
2
9
139
Slowly, cautiously & with reduced hours & face-masks, our Shanghai satellite lab at ECNU reopens after being closed for 10 weeks since 18 Jan (initially for Chinese NY). Take care & stay safe
@wobenyingxiong
, Sujun, Peng, Peggy &
@LiangZhang1023
🙏
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But it’s ok to show compassion & support people when they screw up too. Be kind, ChemTwitter, and let’s all work together to bring about meaningful change. 6/7
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1
27
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1/9 A cool thing when elected FRS is you get to sign (pic1) the
@royalsoc
Charter Book (pic2), in ink on vellum using a quill pen (care: don’t smudge!). It has signatures from (almost) all Fellows from 1660 onwards. Here are some of the most awesome (can you spot them all?)….
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11
133
Just out
@NatureNano
: macrocycle travels along a polystyrene track, picking up building blocks that it assembles into a well-defined oligomer that folds into a secondary structure that performs asymmetric catalysis Congrats
@gollygosh3
@GuillaumeDebo
etc!
4
30
131
What a lovely surprise! N&V-type highlight by
@romain_costil
&
@Feringalab
of
@CharlieMcTernan
&
@GuillaumeDebo
's OA Wittigator paper in
@Chem_CP
. Behind-the-paper feature by Charlie & cover by
@JoRichers
😃
6
19
130
Piping needs work, but happy with this morning’s ‘Blackpool Rock’ white chocolate & raspberry roulade, featuring
@stuartcantrill
raspberry gin! Happy Easter all!🍰
#chemistswhocook
5
2
133
Last organic section meeting for
@LeonoriLab
at
@UoMChemistry
. Buona fortuna, torna presto! 🥂
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2
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Today in
@ScienceMagazine
Vernier Celtic knot☘️magic from the brilliant
@ZoeAshbridge
🏴
@ElisabethKreidt
🇩🇪Lucian🇷🇴
@FSchaufelberger
🇸🇪
@JStenlid
🇸🇪 & Frank 🇺🇸. 378-atom-long strands (same length as 126-residue peptide) tied into 12-crossing 'trefoil-of-trefoils' triskelion knots😃
Super excited to share my main PhD work, where we use Vernier template synthesis to make complex molecular knots! 🪢 Amazing working with
@ElisabethKreidt
@FSchaufelberger
and Lucian in
@ProfDaveLeigh
lab on this cool project!
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Many congratulations to Ben, Jean-Pierre and Sir Fraser! Wonderful recognition of their outstanding achievements.
#NobelPrize
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Excited by molecular machines, chemical fueling & molecular knots? 😃 Postdoc positions for skilled & creative organic chemists available in our group . Short deadline (Aug 21st).
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A generation ago making rotaxanes was a synthetic tour de force. Now
@FieldenStephen
&
@chong53567984
show you can do this :
Mix a ring & 2 axle building blocks.
That’s it.
1:1:1 ratio, no reagents, no catalyst, no cations/anions/H+, up to 95% yield 😀
4
20
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Out now as an Accepted Article in
@angew_chem
,
@StefanBorsley
&
@benjamino_acid
review & discuss how chemistry can be driven inexorably away from equilibrium, rather than relax towards it😃
1
21
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Enter the Wittigator! Another nanomachine from the super-talented
@CharlieMcTernan
, together with
@GuillaumeDebo
, out in
@Chem_CP
today😀
1
19
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Love the Laudatio for our group’s August Wilhelm von Hofmann medal from
@GDCh_aktuell
🙏😃 Sadly, consultancy apparently cut from budget for that project at funding panel😂
5
2
116
The remaining IAB members are meeting with the GDCh on Wed & I shall consider how personally to best serve the community wrt this issue after that. But enough stands have been taken now, so I don’t expect to share any decision on social media. Take care all & stay safe.7/7
3
5
113
3 recent mol ratchet papers, from us (
@deant94
@YansongRen
@SalmaKassem
@StefanBorsley
@benjamino_acid
@ElisabethKreidt
) &
@sirfrasersays
@DeanAstumian
@OmarFarha5
groups covered by
@RobertFService
in
@ScienceMagazine
+ fab art from
@SciCommStudio
❤️
2
19
110
Out now in
@Chem_CP
,
@James_Gall_
@benjamino_acid
&
@StefanBorsley
report a catenane that, like enzymes, accelerates catalysis by conformational selection. Gating in fastest catalytic pathway causes directional rotation to arise as emergent behavior
2
16
110
Happy Lunar New Year!
#YearOfTheOx
#ChineseNewYear2021
CNY card featuring the world's smallest Chinese knot courtesy of the great
@JoRichers
🙏
5
17
107
Last year I had the honour of speaking at François’ retirement symposium & talked about some things he taught me. Of course we had fun…😀
It is with profound sadness that we announce that our Chemistry Europe Fellow François Diedrich passed away.
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François N. Diederich: Pioneer of carbon allotropes and molecular recognition
1
12
102
Save the Date! 9th
@EuChemS
Congress hosted by
@irishchemistry
in Dublin, 7-11 July 2024.
#ECC9Dublin2024
Plenary Lectures:
@GreyGroupCam
@francesarnold
@sirfrasersays
@dmac68
@GouverneurGroup
Omar Yaghi, Odile Eisenstein & Brigitte van Tiggelen.
1
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When 2 become 1... Congrats to Spanish spice
@JaviEchavarren
AZ spice
@ma1c_3
Swiss spice
@AdrianHaertsch
Aussie spice
@JustinTJSpence
China spice
@ChongTianChem
& Old spice (Dan)! Out in
@J_A_C_S
. Zig-a-zig-ahh...
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Achievement unlocked 😎
0
5
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So cool to see chemistry from our group & Ben’s (
@FeringaLab
) is actually being used to teach high school students stereochemistry!
#impact
2
13
100
Many congratulations to
@JLsessler
on being elected to the NAS! A fantastic scientist & class act! 👏🎉🥂
4
5
102
Classy response from Erick Carreira. The right thing to do.
A statement from Prof. Erick Carreira:
“I regret writing this letter, as it in no way reflects my leadership approach today. I have made peace with those impacted by the letter. (1/3)
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Very sad news of a pioneer of remarkable science. He had the vision to use biological building blocks to do what biology didn't.
Just heard that Nadrian C. Seeman, the father of DNA nanotechnology is no more! Rest in peace Prof. Seeman. Your contribution to science will be remembered. Many of us start our presentation with this slide, it's so sad to hear he is no more.
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What distinguishes great scientists is their ability to find a problem that is interesting enough to be worth spending time on, yet sufficiently difficult that it hasn’t yet been solved. And to recognise that the time for solving that problem has come.
On this occasion, let me retweet this wonderful advice to young scientists by
@sirfrasersays
:
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Siri, build me the (R,S)-isomer… Congrats to the awesome
@SalmaKassem
@VanesaMarcosAl
@alantll
Leoni & Simone
7
38
99
Knotting worth reading in
@NatureChemistry
today from the great
@Natha_tweet
& her team together with
@FSchaufelberger
& Lucian from
@UoMChemistry
😀
1
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95
On my tour of some south China universities, today I got the chance to give a talk in the city of my wife’s ancestors, Guangzhou. 😀 So cool for our family even if Sau Yin wasn’t with me. Next time, maybe, next time.... Thanks to all my generous hosts 😀
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Excellent news feature on different lab's thoughts on what's the best way to build a molecular machine! 😀
News Feature: Chemists are building a whole suite of tiny molecular machines capable of amazing feats.
#chemistry
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These galley proofs provide the first clear evidence that my rejuvenation cream is finally working 😂
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Excited by chemical fuelling, molecular machinery & knots? Research Coordinator/Lecturer position available to work within, coordinate the research, and support the activities of our research group. Short deadline (Aug 3rd) for those who'd like to apply.
0
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Enjoyed discussions with director/co-writer Emily Zhang for the brilliant new
@veritasium
video on knots. Extremely impressive >1M views in first 12 h! (Molecular knots at 24:21, but you'd miss a lot of great knot math/science/history skipping to that!)
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82
Passed my first swimming test in 40 years so I could use the 50 m pool at the water cube for today’s swim!🏊♂️😀
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3
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Energetically unfavourable Diels-Alder reaction driven by chemical fuel:
@NatureSynthesis
@enzoolivieri4
@James_Gall_
@AlexBetts95
@Toufic_Mrad
0
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The inimitable A P De Silva dedicates the opening Plenary lecture of
@EuChemS_Congres
to
@sirfrasersays
, for giving a ‘chemistry orphan’ a scientific family.
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On beautiful Iona today, visiting the abbey where much of the Book of Kells was likely written around 800 AD. Plenty of >1000 year old knot & link motifs survive the Scottish weather🌧💨 and nice to see them still being used in the current chapel!😀🪢🥨
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Chem fuelled rotary & linear mol motors Congrats
@FieldenStephen
@CharlieMcTernan
@miriamrwilson
Dan,Ulvi & Sundus!😀
1
27
81
This morning's zoom meeting of
@GiusepponeLab
new molecular machine EU ITN ArtMoMa: Collaborating teams & partners (map); advisory board (green). Interested potential PhD students pls contact individual PIs 😀
3
17
84
Out now in
@NatureSynthesis
, endergonic synthesis through chemical fuelling. Congrats to
@enzoolivieri4
@James_Gall_
@AlexBetts95
&
@Toufic_Mrad
!
3
8
81
Many congrats to
@SalmaKassem
who has been named
@UoMSciEng
Postgraduate Student of the Year for her pioneering work on molecular robotics!
1
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10
80
Note to self: remove 'magic' from my bio before sending Elon my nanomotor proposal 😁
1
1
77
Lunch today with super-tweep
@SuperScienceGrl
washed down with my last drop of
@stuartcantrill
gin! Merry Christmas!🍸🎄
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3
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@NatureChemistry
@TitchDanon
@FieldenStephen
The smallest chinese knot & a realisation of Daryle Busch's 1992 prediction of 'orderly entanglements' based on metal coordination complexes 😃
0
8
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Oooh, what a lovely surprise for a Friday evening! Dan &
@PaulEKruger
have written much ado about knotting!😃 Many thanks guys🙏👍
1
10
75
Sitting on the stairs & standing in the doorways, captivated by the great Ben Feringa
@OfficialUoM
@UoMChemistry
👍
2
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If only there was a sign in downtown Victoria of what I should talk about on my visit to
@chemistryatuvic
🤷♂️
0
1
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Fab to have this issue of
@NatureChemistry
on display with bronzes of the late Dennis Westwood that inspired the cover image by
@biocinematics
& Tulsi. Tks
@deant94
for photo😃🙏 Exhibition
@CompassGallery
, Glasgow, 22 Oct-12 Nov.
@stuartcantrill
@NChemGav
2
9
73
Excited to be establishing a satellite lab at ECNU (East China Normal University) in downtown Shanghai next year 😀
3
6
69
Knot a problem!
@FSchaufelberger
identifies strands that need to be unravelled in molecular nanotopology
1
13
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The best Christmas presents come after two-and-a-half years of attempts to grow crystals! 🍾💎
#xrd
3
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Thou shalt knot...
Great job
@LiangZhang1023
, Alex, Alina, Jeff, Pia & Inigo!
& cool N&Vs by Ed Fenlon
@NatureChemistry
0
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66
Great molecular trefoil knot synthesis from the labs of
@Andrew_Sue
, Feihe Huang, Hao Li & Linjun Wang!😍👏
A trefoil knot self-templated through imination in water
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