11 Last checked 24 January 2023

454 Google Scholar Citations

Duncan began his career as an analytical chemist at Reckitt and Colman Pharmaceutical Division (now Reckitt Benckiser), working in both Manufacturing and R & D. He became a Graduate of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1991. Following this he carried out graduate studies with Prof. Chris Rayner at the University of Leeds, and was awarded a PhD for studies on the Payne-type rearrangement and nucleophilic trapping of 2,3-epoxysulfides. Between 1994 and 1998 he undertook postdoctoral studies with Professor Garry Procter at the University of Salford, studying the application of hetero-Diels-Alder cycloadditions to the total synthesis of aminoglycoside antibiotics; and with Professor Jim Thomas at the University of Manchester, working on the total synthesis of the bryostatins.

Duncan joined the Process R&D department of AstraZeneca Charnwood in 1999 as a process chemist. He specialised in early phase development projects, working closely with Medicinal Chemistry teams to design innovative routes to new pharmaceutical compounds, and leading teams of chemists, analysts and engineers in manufacturing campaigns at laboratory, kilo-lab and pilot plant scale. He developed an interest and expertise in metal catalysis as leader of the AZ Global Catalysis Group, acted as the AZ technical leader in a consortium that successfully bid for EU FP7 funding to investigate catalysis in continuous flow manufacturing processes, and ran an independent research program devising new routes to chiral heterocyclic scaffolds. Duncan joined the University of Huddersfield in 2011 as Senior Research Fellow.

Duncan serves as a committee member of the RSC Heterocyclic and Synthesis Group, and as treasurer of the Gregynog Synthesis Workshop, an annual conference for young synthetic organic chemists.

• Preparation of new antibiotics and anti-tumour compounds, by both de novo synthesis and chemical modification of natural products;
• Asymmetric catalysis, utilizing a variety of complementary techniques, for example: homogeneous and supported metal-ligand complexes; enzymatic catalysis; organocatalysis and phase transfer conditions;
• New synthetic methodology for streamlined manufacturing processes, such as functionalization of conventionally unreactive C-H bonds;
• Design and synthesis of new chiral heterocyclic scaffolds based on challenging architecture such as spirocyclic, bridged bicyclic, and uncommon ring sizes;
• Innovative manufacturing technology, such as continuous flow processing, membrane reactors and microwave heating;
• Green and sustainable chemical manufacturing.

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