Dr Geoffrey Brown
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+44 (0) 118 378 7418
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Associate Professor
- Associate Professor in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy
- Departmental Director of Academic Tutoring
- NMR Platform Lead in the Chemical Analysis Facility
- Part 2 Year Tutor.
Office
222Building location
ChemistryAreas of interest
Dr Brown's current research interests centre on the application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to various problems in chemical biology. In particular, he is interested in:- The biosynthesis of the antimalarial drug, artemisinin, from the medicinal plant Artemisia annua;
- Development of a novel NMR strategy for determining the solution structures of oligosaccharides (in collaboration with Professor Helen Osborn and Professor Bob Rastall);
- Using NMR to determine the structures of peptides and proteins (in collaboration with Professor Ian Hamley and Professor Simon Andrews);
- Using NMR to investigate the formose reaction, which is thought to have been one of the fundamental processes involved in the origin of life.
Dr Brown recently completed a grant into the biosynthesis of artemisinin (BBSRC £375,000). He has over 100 publications, most of which involve applications of NMR to problems in chemical biology.
Read more about Dr Brown's research interests
Research centres and groups
Dr Brown is part of the Biomedical, Molecular and Analytical Chemistry research group.Learn more about our research groups
Selected publications
Read a list of Dr Brown's selected publications.Publications
- Brown, G. , Bauer, J. , Osborn, H. , Kuemmerle, R. (2018) A solution NMR approach to determine the chemical structures of carbohydrates using the hydroxyl groups as starting points. ACS Omega , 3 (12). pp. 17957-17975. ISSN: 2470-1343 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.8b02136
- Czechowski, T. , Larson, T. , Catania, T. , Harvey, D. , Wei, C. , Essome, M. , Brown, G. , Graham, I. (2018) Detailed phytochemical analysis of high- and low artemisinin-producing chemotypes of Artemisia annua. Frontiers in Plant Science , 9 pp. 641. ISSN: 1664-462X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.00641
- Czechowski, T. , Larson, T. , Catania, T. , Harvey, D. , Brown, G. , Graham, I. (2016) Artemisia annua mutant impaired in artemisinin synthesis demonstrates importance of nonenzymatic conversion in terpenoid metabolism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 113 (52). pp. 15150-15155. ISSN: 1091-6490 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1611567113
- King, A. , Brown, G. , Gilday, A. , Forestier, E. , Larson, T. , Graham, I. (2016) A cytochrome P450-mediated intramolecular carbon-carbon ring closure in the biosynthesis of multidrug-resistance-reversing lathyrane diterpenoids. ChemBioChem , 17 (17). pp. 1593-1597. ISSN: 1439-7633 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cbic.201600316
- Aitken, L. , Hammond, L. , Sundaram, R. , Shankland, K. , Brown, G. , Cobb, A. (2015) Asymmetric cyclopropanation of conjugated cyanosulfones using a novel cupreine organocatalyst: rapid access to d3-amino acids. Chemical Communications , 51 (70). pp. 13558-13561. ISSN: 1359-7345 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c5cc05158d
- Bryant, L. , Flatley, B. , Patole, C. , Brown, G. , Cramer, R. (2015) Proteomic analysis of Artemisia annua – towards elucidating the biosynthetic pathways of the antimalarial pro-drug artemisinin. BMC Plant Biology , 15 (1). ISSN: 1471-2229 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12870-015-0565-7
- King, A. , Brown, G. , Gilday, A. , Larson, T. , Graham, I. (2014) Production of bioactive diterpenoids in the Euphorbiaceae depends on evolutionarily conserved gene clusters. The Plant Cell , 26 (8). pp. 3286-3298. ISSN: 1040-4651 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1105/tpc.114.129668
- Brazier, J. , Shah, A. , Brown, G. (2012) I-Motif formation in gene promoters: unusually stable formation in sequences complementary to known G-quadruplexes. Chemical Communication , 48 (87). pp. 10739-10741. ISSN: 1359-7345 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C2CC30863K
- Cortese-Krott, M. , Rodriguez-Mateos, A. , Kuhnle, G. , Brown, G. , Feelisch, M. , Kelm, M. (2012) A multi-level analytical approach for detection and visualization of intracellular NO production and nitrosation events using diaminofluoresceins. Free Radical Biology and Medicine , 53 (11). pp. 2146-2158. ISSN: 0891-5849 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2012.09.008
- Silva, E. , Pye, R. , Brown, G. , Harwood, L. (2012) Towards the total synthesis of mycaperoxide B: probing biosynthetic rationale. European Journal of Organic Chemistry , 2012 (6). pp. 1209-1216. ISSN: 1099-0690 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejoc.201101477
- Rajkumar, S. , Shankland, K. , Brown, G. , Cobb, A. (2012) Organocatalytic enantioselective construction of nitrocyclohexanes containing multiple chiral centres via a cascade reaction. Chemical Science , 3 pp. 584-588. ISSN: 1478-6524 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C1SC00592H
- Sizmur, T. , Watts, M. , Brown, G. , Palumbo-Roe, B. , Hodson, M. (2011) Impact of gut passage and mucus secretion by the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris on mobility and speciation of arsenic in contaminated soil. Journal of Hazardous Materials , 197 pp. 169-175. ISSN: 0304-3894 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.09.071
- Brown, G. (2010) The Biosynthesis of Artemisinin (Qinghaosu) and the Phytochemistry of Artemisia annua L. (Qinghao). Molecules , 15 (11). pp. 7603-7698. ISSN: 1420-3049 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules15117603
- Hamley, I. , Nutt, D. , Brown, G. , Miravet, J. , Escuder, B. , Rodríguez-Llansola, F. (2010) Influence of the solvent on the self-assembly of a modified amyloid beta peptide fragment. II. NMR and computer simulation investigation. Journal of Physical Chemistry B , 114 (2). pp. 940-951. ISSN: 1520-6106 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp906107p
- Hamley, I. , Brown, G. , Castelletto, V. , Cheng, G. , Venanzi, M. , Caruso, M. , Placidi, E. , Aleman, C. , Revilla-López, G. , Zanuy, D. (2010) Self-assembly of a designed amyloid peptide containing the functional thienylalanine unit. Journal of Physical Chemistry B , 114 (32). pp. 10674-10683. ISSN: 1520-6106 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp105508g
- Brown, G. (2008) The power of NMR.: in two and three dimensions. ChemEd NZ , 113 pp. 30-38. ISSN: 0111-0586
- Brown, G. (2008) The power of NMR. Part 1: the beginnings. ChemEd NZ pp. 20-29. ISSN: 0111-0586
- Brown, G. (2008) The power of NMR: the beginnings. Education in Chemistry , 45 (4). pp. 108-116. ISSN: 0013-1350
- Brown, . (2008) The power of NMR: in two and three dimensions. Education in Chemistry , 45 (5). pp. 152-156. ISSN: 0013-1350
- Brown, . (2008) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) . Education in Chemistry , 45 (6). pp. 182-185. ISSN: 0013-1350
- Brown, . and Sy, . (2007) In vivo transformations of dihydro-epi-deoxyarteannuin B in Artemisia annua plants. Tetrahedron , 63 (38). pp. 9536-9547. ISSN: 0040-4020 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tet.2007.06.016
- Brown, . and Sy, . (2007) In vivo transformations of artemisinic acid in Artemisia annua plants. Tetrahedron , 63 (38). pp. 9548-9566. ISSN: 0040-4020 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tet.2007.06.062
- Brown, . (2006) Artemisinin and a new generation of antimalarial drugs. Education in Chemistry , 43 (4). pp. 97-99. ISSN: 0013-1350
- Brown, . (2005) Chemistry at the origin of life. Education in Chemistry , 42 (1). pp. 21-24. ISSN: 0013-1350
- Brown, G. , Wong, H. , Hutchinson, N. , Lee, S. , Chan, B. , Williams, G. (2004) Chemistry and biology of maculalactone A from the marine cyanobacterium Kyrtuthrix maculans. Phytochemistry Reviews , 3 (3). pp. 381-400. ISSN: 1572-980X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11101-004-6552-5
- Brown, . and Wong, . (2004) Total synthesis of (+/-) maculalactone A, maculalactone B and maculalactone C and the determination of the absolute configuration of natural (+) maculalactone A by asymmetric synthesis. Tetrahedron , 60 (25). pp. 5439-5451. ISSN: 0040-4020 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tet.2004.04.060
- Brown, . and Sy, . (2004) Synthesis of labelled dihydroartemisinic acid. Tetrahedron , 60 (5). pp. 1125-1138. ISSN: 0040-4020 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tet.2003.11.069
- Brown, . and Sy, . (2004) In vivo transformations of dihydroartemisinic acid in Artemisia annua plants. Tetrahedron , 60 (5). pp. 1139-1159. ISSN: 0040-4020 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tet.2003.11.070
- Brown, . , Liang, . , Sy, . (2003) Terpenoids from the seeds of Artemisia annua. Phytochemistry , 64 (1). pp. 303-323. ISSN: 0031-9422 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0031-9422(03)00294-2
- Brown, . (2003) 13C-2H correlation NMR spectroscopy studies of the in vivo transformations of natural products from Artemisia annua . Phytochemistry Reviews , 2 (1-2). pp. 45-59. ISSN: 1568-7767 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:PHYT.0000004199.43295.64