Michael James

Dr. Michael James is a Lecturer in Synthetic Organic Chemistry at the University of Manchester's Department of Chemistry. He leads the James Research Group, focusing on solving long-standing challenges in organic synthesis through radical chain reactions and transition-metal-free methodologies.

• Education: MChem (University of York, 2013), PhD (University of York, 2017)
• Research Areas: Radical reactions, nucleophilic substitution, sustainable chemistry, catalysis design

His recent work explores azanide surrogates for nucleophilic amination, denitrative hydroxylation/sulfonylation of nitroarenes, and computational methods for organic radicals. Collaborations include the Trujillo Group and Unsworth Group.

Notable achievements:

• Thieme Chemistry Journals Award (2024)
• Royal Society Research Grant (2022)

Current group members include PhD students Bradley Cooper, Jonathan Da Luz, Ethan Lim, and Tom Harris. Former advisees have moved to PhD programs at Nottingham and Bristol.