The 21st edition of the prestigious ESOC conference was held in Vienna, Austria between 14-18th July. The conference was aimed at academia and industry alike and was one of the largest conferences in Europe in the field of Organic Chemistry this year.

BMRC delegates, Chris Whiteoak, Simon Turega and PhD students Paula Chirila and Jack Slater attended.

Paula Chirila, Jack Slater and senior lecturer Simon Turega gave poster presentations entitled ‘One-pot preparation of 1,2,3‐benzotriazin‐4(3H)‐ones and acetylbenzotriazoles using a key Cp*Co(III)‐catalyzed C−H amidation step’ and ‘Photoredox Mediated Synthesis of Sulfones from Tosylhydrazone Substrates’ and ‘Investigating monoamine oxidase isoform selectivity for neurotransmitter substrates through the production of thermodynamic cycles’ respectively.

Senior lecturer Chris Whiteoak presented his talk entitled ‘Access to Unusual Heterocyclic Compounds Utilising a Key Cobalt-Catalysed C-H Functionalisation Approach’ to an audience of around 800 people. His attendance was paid for by a Royal Society of Chemistry Travel Grant, an award from the European COST action CHAOS (C-H Activation in Organic Synthesis), the Sheffield Hallam University CKIP programme and the Department of Biosciences and Chemistry.