Procter completed his Bsc in 1992 at University of Leeds.[1] Upon graduation, he continued to read for his Doctor of Philosophy degree with Prof. Christopher Rayner on The development of a selenoxide-based asymmetric oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides and successfully gained his PhD in 1995.[7]
Apart from research and lecturing, Procter has an established career fellowship (2015 - 2020) at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and an author profile in Angewandte Chemie.[4][1] Procter was also a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow (2013 - 2014) and is the lead author of Organic Synthesis using Samarium Diiodide: A practical guide.[1][9] He was the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council panel chair in March 2017, January 2013 and September 2011 and was the Head of Organic Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Manchester from 2011 to 2014.[4]
Prof. Procter has carried out a wide variety of research on the efficient construction of organic molecules. In 2015, he led a research on the synthesis of novel tri-cyclic organic compounds inspired by the antibacterial, pleuromutilinviaSmII-mediated radicalcyclization cascades of dialdehydes, prepared by a one-pot, copper catalyzed double organomagnesium addition to β‐chlorocyclohexenone.[10] This was the first time that important analogues of the antibacterial was prepared, which previously was unable to be synthesized using the naturally occurring product.[10]
Prof. Procter has also invented metal-free coupling processes that may has decrease(d) the reliance of expensive and supply-risk transition metals. Examples include metal-free alkylation and arylation of benzothiophenes,[11] metal-free synthesis of benzothiophenes by twofold C–H functionalization,[12] and new reagents for metal-free C–H trifluoromethylthiolation in Trifluoromethyl sulfoxides.[5]
Major Research Publications by Prof. David J. Procter (2015–present):[5]
Yan, Jiajie; Pulis, Alexander P.; Perry, Gregory J. P.; Procter, David J. (2019). "Metal-Free Synthesis of Benzothiophenes by Twofold C–H Functionalization: Direct Access to Materials-Oriented Heteroaromatics". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 58 (44): 15675–15679. doi:10.1002/anie.201908319. hdl:2381/45605. PMID31479175. S2CID201804146.
Yeung, Kay; Ruscoe, Rebecca E.; Rae, James; Pulis, Alexander P.; Procter, David J. (2016). "Enantioselective Generation of Adjacent Stereocenters in a Copper‐Catalyzed Three‐Component Coupling of Imines, Allenes, and Diboranes". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 55 (44): 15675–15679. doi:10.1002/anie.201908319. hdl:2381/45605. PMID31479175. S2CID201804146.
^Procter, David John (1995). The development of a selenoxide-based asymmetric oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides (PhD thesis). (subscription required)
^Procter, David J. (10 November 2009). Organic Synthesis using Samarium Diiodide: A practical guide. Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN978-1-84755-110-8.
^He, Zhen; Pulis, Alexander P; Perry, Gregory J. P.; Procter, David J. (2019). "Pummerer chemistry of benzothiophene S-oxides: Metal-free alkylation and arylation of benzothiophenes". Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon and the Related Elements. 194 (7): 669–677. doi:10.1080/10426507.2019.1602626. S2CID191173285.
^Yan, Jiajie; Pulis, Alexander P.; Perry, Gregory J. P.; Procter, David J. (2019). "Metal-Free Synthesis of Benzothiophenes by Twofold C–H Functionalization: Direct Access to Materials-Oriented Heteroaromatics". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 58 (44): 15675–15679. doi:10.1002/anie.201908319. hdl:2381/45605. PMID31479175. S2CID201804146.
