David Cordes

Dr David Cordes is a researcher and X-Ray Crystallographer at the School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, where he manages the single-crystal X-ray diffraction facilities. He provides molecular structure determination services for crystalline solid-state materials, supporting both internal and external collaborative research. He is actively involved in teaching, delivering the Crystallographic Structure Determination component of CH4421 and supervising laboratory sessions and tutorials across multiple academic levels.

Dr Cordes earned his PhD in Supramolecular Transition Metal Architectures from the University of Otago (awarded 2006), followed by postdoctoral research at The University of Alabama (2007), Imperial College London (2008), and the University of St Andrews (2010). He briefly served at Texas Tech University before rejoining St Andrews in 2013.

His research is centered on single-crystal X-ray diffraction for small-molecule analysis and metallosupramolecular chemistry. His work supports diverse chemical investigations, particularly in synthetic and materials chemistry. The fingerprint of his research includes strong contributions to delayed fluorescence, heterocyclic compounds, imines, hydrogen bonding, and cycloaddition chemistry.

His recent publications reflect a broad engagement with modern organic and materials chemistry, including enantioselective cycloadditions, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials for OLEDs, cross-coupling reactions, and the structural study of fluorinated motifs and fulleride complexes. These works demonstrate a consistent application of crystallography to elucidate molecular structures and inform functional design.

Dr Cordes serves on the editorial boards of the journals Crystals (since 2019, previously 2019–2020) and Transition Metal Chemistry (since 2023), contributing to the peer-review process in his fields of expertise.

He has co-authored over 360 research outputs and contributed to more than 300 datasets, indicating a highly collaborative and data-rich research profile. His work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through chemical innovation and materials development. He is not listed as advising any students in the provided text, nor are any scientific awards mentioned.