Dr Stephen M. Mansell

Biography

Hello, I’m Dr Stephen Mansell. I am Deputy Head of Chemistry Discipline, helping Dr Nahler make sure that chemistry teaching runs smoothly. I am also the Chemistry Safety Officer. I run the first year inorganic laboratory, helping all our new students adjust to this new and exciting experience. I teach main group chemistry in year 2 – a passion of mine as I have recently written a book on a key main group element, boron. Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, Boron: In Search of the Real Fifth Element will be available from August 2026. I teach organometallic chemistry in years 3 and 4 – a fascinating area covering the extensive chemistry of metal-carbon bonds – as well as f-block chemistry to year 4. My research interests cover a wide breadth of inorganic chemistry including developing new transition metal catalysts, the design of rhodium carbene complexes for catalytic C-H bond functionalisation and better routes to sustainable alkenes from alcohol starting materials. I am very active in outreach and have organised a series of events on Chemistry and Climate Change, Technology and the Future of Chemistry and in 2024, I gave two Edinburgh Fringe shows on the boron chemistry.