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Dr. Craig Robertson

Dr Craig Robertson is a graduate of the University of Waterloo in Ontario Canada (2008), carrying out his PhD with Professor Richard T. Oakley, FRSC. He was awarded the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERCC) Postdoctoral Fellowship, which he held at Durham University under the supervision of Professor Judith A. K. Howard, CBE, FRS. He joined the University of Liverpool in November 2011. His current research interests include inorganic main group heterocyclic chemistry, material applications of neutral radicals, molecular electronics and advanced X-ray crystallographic techniques.

Demetris Bates

"I am currently a PhD student within the Robertson group. I graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2013 with a first class MSci (Hons) in Chemistry. My master’s project was based on the synthesis of stable trityl radicals and their incorporation into three-dimensional materials, working under Dr Jonathan McMaster. Following my graduation I spent some time in industry, with my work involving the scale-up of cadmium free quantum dot production from a lab to a manufacturing scale.

I joined the Robertson group in October 2016 and my research currently focuses on: the synthesis and investigation of hysteretic materials based on dithiazolyl radicals; the synthesis of hexaarylbimidazolyl compounds for use as molecular wires; the incorporation of heterocyclic radicals and their precursors into multifunctional materials; and the use of advanced X-ray crystallographic techniques to probe the structural properties of all these materials.

My interests outside chemistry include travel, bouldering, guitar and languages."

Max Edney

"I am currently a 4^th year MChem student at the University of Liverpool working in the Steiner and Robertson group, first joining in 2017 as part of my third year research project; this was based upon exploring the structural diversity of the P₃N₃ unit in the solid- state, with particular emphasis on crystal- engineering of different diamine-substituted heterocycles. I continued working in the group over the subsequent summer as part of an EPSRC funded summer scholarship, with the aim of synthesising high spin radicals based on the P₃N₃ synthon and probing the properties of the system via SXRD, including exploring the units acid-base chemistry and generating various crystalline salts.

I also undertook my MChem research project under the supervision of Dr. Robertson and Dr. Steiner, the aim of this project was to synthesise a series of multifunctional lophine based radicals, when mounted onto a 1, 3, 5- triazene backbone. With the aim of firstly performing oxidations of the precursor material, and then investigating the magnetic properties of the radical material, searching for 'magnetic spin frustration'. Other functions of this system could also be probed such as porosity and conductivity in the solid- state. All of these projects I have had the pleasure of working on have been multi-disciplinary, allowing me to gain significant experience in both inorganic/ organic synthesis and in single-crystal X-ray crystallography."

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