Seb Pike
spike-chem.bsky.social
Seb Pike
@spike-chem.bsky.social
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick
Pinned
Excited to see Ashwani’s paper published in @chemicalscience.rsc.org! We investigate the selective photooxidation of diolates on Ti-oxo clusters. A crucial PCET step in the redox mechanism is only possible when the diolate is large and flexible. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Switching on photoreactivity in Ti4-oxo clusters by increasing the size of 1,n-alkane diolate bridging ligands
A series of new isostructural Ti-oxo clusters containing bridging bidentate 1,n-alkane diolate ligands with the formula [Ti4O4(O2PR2)4{O(CH2)nO}2] (R = Ph, n = 2–5; R = Cy, n = 2–4) were prepared by a...
pubs.rsc.org
Plenty of festive fun and nonsense with this wonderful team yesterday! Celebrating a busy year in the lab and lots of exciting science.
December 9, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Excited to see Ashwani’s paper published in @chemicalscience.rsc.org! We investigate the selective photooxidation of diolates on Ti-oxo clusters. A crucial PCET step in the redox mechanism is only possible when the diolate is large and flexible. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Switching on photoreactivity in Ti4-oxo clusters by increasing the size of 1,n-alkane diolate bridging ligands
A series of new isostructural Ti-oxo clusters containing bridging bidentate 1,n-alkane diolate ligands with the formula [Ti4O4(O2PR2)4{O(CH2)nO}2] (R = Ph, n = 2–5; R = Cy, n = 2–4) were prepared by a...
pubs.rsc.org
December 4, 2025 at 9:19 AM
PhD studentship at Uni Warwick with CENTA! Join us to study the decomposition of potent greenhouse gas N2O using Earth abundant Ti-based molecular photocatalysts. Exciting joint project with @chaplinlab.bsky.social group. Please contact Seb for details. centa.ac.uk/studentship/... Please re-post.
October 20, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Congrats to Dr Callum Rosenberg who has been awarded a 6-month EPSRC Postdoctoral Pathway Fellowship, which he will undertake with the Pike Group! Excited to see some new and exciting titanium-oxo cluster molecules and photo-crystallography during the project!
October 9, 2025 at 2:17 PM
The Pike Group visit Bath for the 2025 Big Research Day Out! We had a great time with the @scottchemistry.bsky.social and Phanopoulos Groups. Great talks from RAs, PhDs, Masters and summer project students. Excellent mini golf, followed by West-country cider and enormous pizzas!
September 1, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Seb Pike
New group preprint comparing the optical and electronic properties of hydrogen terminated group IV nanoparticles as predicted using GW-BSE and TD-DFT doi.org/10.26434/che... #compchem #chemsky
August 26, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Massive congratulations to Dr. Stephen Brown @niobiumalkoxide.bsky.social on completing his PhD studies and also being awarded the Uni Warwick Department of Chemistry PhD Publication Prize for his paper in @jacs.acspublications.org! Check it out here pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Photoinitiated Single-Crystal to Single-Crystal Redox Transformations of Titanium-Oxo Clusters
Titanium-oxo clusters can undergo photochemical reactions under UV light, resulting in the reduction of the titanium-oxo core and oxidation of surface ligands. This is an important step in photocatalytic processes in light-absorbing Ti/O-based clusters, metal–organic frameworks, and (nano)material surfaces; however, studying the direct outcome of this photochemical process is challenging due to the fragility of the immediate photoproducts. In this report, titanium-oxo clusters [TiO(OiPr)(L)]n (n = 4, L = O2PPh2, or n = 6, L = O2CCH2tBu) undergo a two-electron photoredox reaction in the single-crystal state via an irreversible single-crystal to single-crystal (SC-SC) transformation initiated by a UV laser. The process is monitored by single crystal X-ray diffraction revealing the photoreduction of the cluster with coproduction of an (oxidized) acetone ligand, which is retained in the structure as a ligand to Ti(3+). The results demonstrate that photochemistry of inorganic molecules can be studied in the single crystal phase, allowing characterization of photoproducts which are unstable in the solution phase.
pubs.acs.org
June 5, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by Seb Pike
Over the moon that the first paper from Anja's studies on metal chelate rotaxanes is now online in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1002/anie...
Massive congratulations Anja,
@daisypooler.bsky.social Huseyn, Monika and @screspi.bsky.social 🥳🎉🎊🍀🥃

Thread below --》
Modulation of Lanthanide Luminescence with the Mechanical Bond: Antenna‐Emitter Confinement in a Compact [2]Rotaxane
Luminescent emitters based on lanthanide ions are of ubiquitous importance in the biological sciences, but typically need sensitisation from a covalently attached adjacent chromophore – an “antenna” ....
doi.org
June 5, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Delighted to see Stephen's paper on the light absorption properties of Ce-oxo clusters out in @chemicalscience.rsc.org. We look at the effects of mixed valency, dye ligands and size on the electronic structure of molecular nanoparticles of ceria!
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
June 2, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Great Pike Group news this week! Congratulations to Stephen Brown for winning a Poster prize at the BCA spring conference and to Amina Humayun for the runner-up MRes Poster Prize!
May 30, 2025 at 2:59 PM