Jonathan Burton

Professor Jonathan Burton is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Department of Chemistry. He leads the Burton Group and is a Fellow of Somerville College. His research focuses on organic synthesis, including radical chemistry, transition metal catalysis, and the development of synthetic methodologies for complex molecules. Collaborations with computational chemists (e.g., Robert Paton) and biosynthesis studies enable predictive approaches to natural product structure determination and total synthesis.

Research interests include oxonium ion structure/reactivity, enantioselective catalysis, and functionalization of arenes. His group has pioneered oxidative radical reactions and applied them to synthesize natural products like salinosporamide A and compounds from Laurencia species. Biomimetic strategies and computational modeling are central to his work.

No specific scientific awards are listed in the provided text. The Burton Group’s activities involve interdisciplinary approaches, combining experimental and theoretical methods to advance synthetic organic chemistry.