David Aitken

David Aitken is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Institute of Molecular Chemistry and Materials of Orsay (ICMMO - UMR 8182), University of Paris-Saclay. His research focuses on synthetic methodology, photochemistry, and the preparation of bioactive molecular scaffolds. He studied Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde (BSc 1983, PhD 1986), followed by a CNRS Researcher position at the University of Paris 5 before becoming a Professor at the University of Clermont-Ferrand 2 in 1998. Since 2006, he has led his research group at Orsay and currently serves as Director of ICMMO.

• Education: BSc and PhD in Chemistry (University of Strathclyde, Scotland)
• Research Interests: Synthetic methodology, photochemical transformations, hydrogen bonding in peptides, conformational control, and biologically relevant molecules
• Methodologies: Photochemistry, organocatalysis, tandem reactions, stereoselective synthesis, and computational modeling
• Structural Analysis: Hydrogen bonding, helical folding, and non-covalent interactions using spectroscopy and molecular modeling
• Current Role: Director of ICMMO research institute

His recent publications highlight innovations in peptide helical folding, cyclobutane and cyclopropane synthesis, and enantioselective catalytic reactions. His work bridges organic synthesis with biological applications, particularly in protein interaction inhibitors and insulin-sensitizing molecules.