Professor Chris Willis
B.Sc.(Lond.), D.Phil.(Sus.)
Current positions
Professor of Organic Chemistry
School of Chemistry
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
Natural products isolated from bacteria, fungi and plants from both marine and terrestrial environments are a rich source of compounds of medicinal and agrochemical importance. We have published >130 papers which centre upon:-
- Structure elucidation and total synthesis of natural products
- Design and synthesis of probes to elucidate biosynthetic pathways and enzyme mechanisms
- Enantioselective synthesis of amino acids and heterocycles
- Isotopic labelling, biotransformations and reaction mechanisms
Professor Willis is a supervisor in the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Chemical Synthesis
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Harnessing the Power of Diels-Alderases in Sustainable Chemoenzymatic Synthesis
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of ChemistryDates
01/12/2023 to 30/11/2026
Harnessing the Power of Diels-Alderases in Sustainable Chemoenzymatic Synthesis
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of ChemistryDates
01/12/2023 to 30/11/2026
Harnessing the Power of Diels-Alderases in Sustainable Chemoenzymatic Synthesis
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of ChemistryDates
01/12/2023 to 30/11/2026
8083 BBSRC - Prof Chris Willis Unlocking the potential
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of ChemistryDates
01/10/2019 to 30/09/2022
Structural and Mechanistic Investigations of Antibiotic Production in Bacteria
Principal Investigator
Description
There is an indisputable problem of antibiotic resistance and an urgent need for the discovery and development of new antibiotics that are cost effective to produce. In February 2017, the…Managing organisational unit
School of ChemistryDates
Thesis supervisions
Photochemistry and Catalysis
Supervisors
Synthetic Strategies to Natural Antibiotics and Novel Derivatives
Supervisors
Biosynthetic Studies on Kalimantacin Antibiotics
Supervisors
Towards the Enantioselective Total Synthesis of Viburspiran
Supervisors
Synthetic and biosynthetic studies on polyketide natural products
Supervisors
Exploring the Potential of Diels—Alderases as Biocatalysts
Supervisors
Investigations into the Use of Photoredox Catalysis for the Synthesis of Indoloazepinone Scaffolds
Supervisors
Synthetic Studies on Diarylheptanoids and Diterpenes
Supervisors
Maleidride Natural Products
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
26/08/2025Chemoenzymatic total synthesis of the antibiotic (−)-13-deoxytetrodecamycin using the Diels–Alderase TedJ
Chemical Science
Complete genome sequences of two actinomycetes containing abyssomicin-like gene clusters
Microbiology Resource Announcements
Divergent Tandem Acyl Carrier Proteins Necessitate In-Series Polyketide Processing in the Leinamycin Family
Angewandte Chemie
Genetic engineering of Sorangium cellulosum reveals hidden enzymology in myxobacterial natural product biosynthesis
Nature Communications
In vivo and in vitro investigations provide insights into maleidride biosynthesis in fungi
RSC Advances
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