Professor Perry T. Kaye BSc (Natal), BSc (Hons) (UNISA), MSc (Natal), DPhil (Oxon), FRSC, C.Chem., FRSSAf.
Professor of Organic Chemistry (1987-2007), Head of the Department of Chemistry (1991-2007), Rhodes University; Director, Rhodes Centre for Chemico- and Biomedicinal Research (2005-)
Summary of Research output
128 Papers published or accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals
75 Contributions at national and international conferences as lectures or posters
56 Higher degrees (MSc and PhD; including 1 currently submitted for external examination)
6 Higher degree projects currently being supervised as sole or senior supervisor
Awards and Prestigious Lectures
Vice?Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award/Medal, Rhodes University, 1994.
NRF B2 Rated Scientist 1995
AECI Medal of the South African Chemical Institute, 1996
Frank Warren Lecture, SACI Frank Warren Conference, Mtunzini, KZN, 1997.
Vice?Chancellor's Senior Research Award/Medal, Rhodes University, 2001.
Ernest Oppenheimer Sabbatical Grants: 1990, 2003.
Frank Warren Memorial Lecture, University of Cape Town, 2003.
Victor Pretorius Memorial Lecture, University of Pretoria, 2006.
Gold Medal of the South African Chemical Institute, 2007.
Research interests
1. Heterocyclic Compounds with Medicinal Potential
a) Applications of the Baylis-Hillman reaction in the synthesis of biologically active heterocyclic systems, including novel chromone-, chromene-, thiochromene- and coumarin-derived ritonavir analogues as potential HIV-1 protease inhibitors and quinoline derivatives as potential antimalarials and HIV-1 integrase inhibitors
b) Preparation, spectroscopic analysis and receptor-binding properties of fluorinated benzodiazepine analogues.
c) Preparation of ATP analogues as potential glutamine synthetase inhibitors.
2. Physical Organic Chemistry
Kinetic-mechanistic studies of organic reaction mechanisms; conformational analysis using DNMR methods; and, following sabbatical visits to York (1999) and Oxford (2003), increasing use of computer modelling at the Molecular Mechanics (MM; Accelrys: Cerius2), Quantum Mechanical (QM) and Density Functional (DFT) levels (Accelrys: Dmol3 and Gaussian-03).
3. Asymmetric Synthesis
Development and applications of novel camphor-derived chiral auxiliaries and reagents for use in the asymmetric synthesis of chiral amino acids and other target molecules.
4. Novel Ligand systems
Design, synthesis and evaluation of novel ligand systems, including molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP's), with applications in:- the selective chelation of platinum-group metals from mineral ore leachates; and the development of industrial metathesis catalysts.
Sabbatical visits
1. University of Cambridge, July 1985 ? January 1986; project arranged jointly with Professor Jack Lewis and Dr. Olga Kennard on X?ray crystallography and oligonucleotide synthesis.
2. University of Cambridge, April ? September, 1990; worked with Dr. D.H. Williams on antibiotic?ligand binding.
3. University of York, July - September, 1999: worked with Prof. R.E. Hubbard on the application of computer modelling to biologically significant molecules.
4. University of Oxford, June – September, 2003; worked with Prof. W.G. Richards’ group, applying ab initio and DFT calculations to organic reaction mechanisms.
