Dr Sarah Pike MChem, PhD

Dr Sarah Pike

School of Chemistry
UKRI Future Leaders Fellow
Birmingham Fellow
Associate Professor in Organic Chemistry

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0) 121 414 2989
Email
s.j.pike@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@Pike_Group
View my research portal
Address
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Sarah Pike is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, a Birmingham Fellow and an Associate Professor in Chemistry.

Sarah’s research focuses on the design, synthesis and characterisation of novel supramolecular systems. A particular focus is on the development of supramolecular architectures for applications in sensing and small-molecule delivery. 

Pike Group website

Qualifications

  • PhD, University of Edinburgh, 2011
  • MChem, Durham University, 2007

Biography

Sarah studied for a MChem (International) at Durham University. She completed a PhD with Dr Paul Lusby at the University of Edinburgh, where she worked on the development of dynamic metallosupramolecular architectures.

Sarah worked as a PDRA at the University of Manchester in the groups of Professor Jonathan Clayden, and Dr. Simon Webb, working on the development of methods for achieving stereochemical control in synthetic helical oligomers. Subsequently, Sarah worked as a PDRA in the group of Professor Robin Perutz FRS on the energetics of halogen bonds in solution. Sarah then moved to the University of Cambridge and worked in the group of Professor Chris Hunter FRS

She was appointed as a Lecturer in Organic Chemistry at the University of Bradford (2018-2020).

Sarah joined the School of Chemistry as a Future Leader Fellow in 2020.

Postgraduate supervision

Sarah is interested in supervising MSci and postgraduate students in the following areas:

  • Supramolecular chemistry; molecular recognition and host-guest chemistry
  • Synthesis and conformational analysis of oligomers
  • Molecular machines and switches
Students who are interested in these research areas should contact her using the email address above.

Research

  • Supramolecular chemistry
  • Metallosupramolecular architectures
  • Host-guest chemistry

Other activities

  • Associate Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Publications

Selected publications

  • Pike, S. J., Hunter, C. A., Brammer, L., Perutz, R. N., (2019), Benchmarking of Halogen Bond Strength in Solution with Nickel Fluorides: Bromine vs Iodine and Perfluoroaryl vs Perfluoroalkyl Donors, Chem. Eur. J., 25, 9237.
  • Pike, S. J., Lavagnini, E., Varley, L. M., Hunter, C. A., (2019), H-Bond Donor Parameters for Cations, Chem. Sci., 10, 5943.
  • Lister, F. G. A., Eccles, N., Pike, S. J., Brown, R. A., Whitehead, G. F. S., Raftery, Webb, S. J., Clayden, J., (2018), Bis-pyrene Probes of Foldamer Conformation in Solution and Phospholipid Bilayers, Chem. Sci., 9, 6860.
  • Thangavadivale, V., Aguilarm P. M., Jasim, N. A., Pike, S. J., Smith, D. A., Whitwood, A. C., Brammer, L., Perutz, R. N.; (2018), Self-complementary Nickel Halides Enable Multifaceted Comparisons of Intermolecular Halogen Bonds: Fluoride Ligands vs. Other Halides, Chem. Sci., 9, 3767.
  • Lizio, M. G., Andrushchenko, V., Pike, S. J., Peters, A. D., Whitehead, G. F. S., Yrezabal, I. J. Mutter, S. T., Clayden, J., Bour, P., Blanch, E. W., Webb, S. J., (2018), Optically Active Vibrational Spectroscopy of α-Aminoisobutyric Acid Foldamers in Organic Solvents and Phospholipid Bilayers, Chem. Eur. J., 24, 9399.
  • Pike, S. J., Hutchinson, J. J., Hunter, C. A., (2017), H-Bond Acceptor Parameters for Anions, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 139, 6700.

View all publications in research portal