Dr Maria Paz Munoz-Herranz

Senior Lecturer in Synthetic Chemistry

Research Overview

Dr Muñoz is an organic chemist with particular interest in the discovery and development of new organic and organometallic reactions, the use of physical-organic-inorganic chemistry knowledge to study the mechanisms involved, in particular using isotopic labelling, kinetics, simulations and NMR techniques, and the application of the knowledge acquire to the synthesis of small organic and organometallic molecules with potential biological activity.

Her current research involves the discovery and development of novel transition metal-catalysed reactions of allenes, including novel gold-paltinum bimetallic catalytic strategies, the use of allenes as novel ligand frameworks, and the use of organometallic complexes as metalodrugs.

Informal enquiries about self-funded opportunities are welcome.

Profile

Paz studied Chemistry at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, where she graduated with a Master in Chemistry (Organic Chemistry) in 1999.

In 2001 she obtained her Diploma Thesis at the same University under the supervision of Prof. Antonio M. Echavarren, and then carried out her PhD in Chemistry in the same group (October 2004. “Competing Pathways in the Cyclization of 1,6-Enynes Catalyzed by Transition Metals: Selectivity Studies”).

During her postdoctoral stay in the group of Prof. Lloyd-Jones (University of Bristol), she held the positions of Research Assistant (working on “Synthesis of New 3,3'-Binol Derived Substituted Phosphoramidites” for the Ligand Bank, European Community's Sixth Framework Programme); Post-Doctoral Fellow from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (working in “Mechanistic and Kinetics Aspects of the Palladium-Catalyzed Cyclization of Dienes and Related Reactions”); and finally Research Associate (working on “Development of New Protocols for Alkene Difuntionalisation” financed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK).

In 2009, Dr Muñoz returned to Madrid, Spain with a prestigious Ramón y Cajal Award to work at the Insituto de Química Orgánica General (IQOG-CSIC), where she started her research into the discovery of new platinum-catalysed reactions of allenes. In 2011, she moved to the University of East Anglia (UEA) as Lecturer in Organic Chemistry, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer / Associate Professor in 2017.

She joined the Department of Chemistry at Lancaster University as a Senior Lecturer in Synthetic Chemistry in January 2023. She is currently the Head of the Organic Chemistry Section, the Industrial Placement coordinator for the new degree, MChem with Industrial Placement, and the Chemistry Director of Engagement.

Current Research

Selected publications from the group:

Metal complexes as Antifungals? From a crowd-source compund library to the first in vivo experiments. Angelo Frei*, Alysha G. Elliott, Alex Kan, Hue Dinh, Stefan Braese, Alice E. Bruce, Mitchell R. Bruce, Feng Chen, Dhirgam Humaidy, Nicole Jung, A. Paden King, Peter G. Lye, Hannah K. Maliszewska, Ahmed M. Mansour, Dimitris Matiadis, María Paz Muñoz, Tsung-Yu Pai, Shyam Pokhrel, Peter J. Sadler, Marina Sagnou, Michelle Taylor, Justin J. Wilson, Woods Dean, Johannes Zuegg, Wieland Meyer, Amy Cain, Mark A. T. Blaskovich* JACS Au 2022, 2 (10), 2277.
Precious metal complexes of bis(pyridil)allenes: synthesis, catalytic and medicinal applications. Hanna K. Maliszewska, Carla Arnau del Valle, Ying Xia, María J. Marín, Zoë A. E. Waller and M. Paz Muñoz. Dalton Trans. 2021, 50, 16739.
Allene-derived gold and platinum complexes: synthesis and first application in catalysis. Hanna K. Maliszewska, David L. Hughes and M. Paz Muñoz. Dalton Trans. 2020, 49, 4034.
Platinum and Gold Catalysis: a la Carte Hydroamination of Terminal Activated Allenes with Azoles. J. M. Alonso, M. P. Muñoz*. Org. Lett. 2019, 21 (18), 7639.
Heterobimetallic catalysis: Platinum-Gold-catalysed tandem cyclisation/C-X coupling reaction of (hetero)arylallenes with nucleophiles. J. M. Alonso, M. P. Muñoz*. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 4742.