Dr Igor Larrosa from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences has recently been awarded £1.12 Million by the European Research Council. Dr Larrosa explains: 'Organic synthesis relies on taking advantage of the intrinsic reactivities of certain groups of atoms, called functional groups, in order to build new bonds between atoms leading to complex molecular structures. This approach is limited by the nature of these functional groups and the reactivity requirements, which generally results in long and complicated syntheses.' In this project Dr Larrosa and his team will explore the development of novel catalysts that are able to form bonds between atoms of interest without relying on the use of functional groups.