Steve Fletcher

Professor of Chemistry, dad, Canadian. My group works on asymmetric catalysis and complex systems.

[Deborah Doroshow @DDoroshow]

What kills me about reviewing manuscripts isn't not having time and doing them for free. It's spending 20 minutes trying to figure out my EditorialManager username and password and resetting them 6 times before I can even enter my review. #academia

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

@leecronin luck?

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

@qikipedia this needs units...

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

@DirkTrauner my car burned that this morning

[Anat Milo @anatmilo]

We are looking for a talented student to fill the final Ph.D. training position in the CATALOOP network. See details here: Jobs and Career Opportunities in Europe | EURAXESS https://t.co/V318NX5UA7

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

@MoranLabChem @awhspeed he probably used a key word sometime - described getting 'white' crystals or something

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

for some reason, i got notifications that pie*s m*organ, t*mmy fu****ng Ro*inson (of all people) and @awhspeed posted - wtf?

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

It took us ages to figure out how to do this - the key was using a ligand based on Carreira’s ligand, but with a stereogenic P-centre

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

Divergent contiguous stereocenters via asymmetric conjugate additions ... https://t.co/spPsJ9Wbxq

[Dave Collum @DavidBCollum]

Conclusions [to my last scientific paper]

1/6 If I could transport my understanding of basic kinetics forty years back, I would have been a much better synthetic chemist. As a synthetic chemist, selectivities are merely ratios to be optimized, but as a kineticist they are parallel reaction pathways that may have different concentration dependencies at critical branch points. Truly gifted synthetic chemists like E. J. Corey, David Evans, and Clark Still displayed unique understandings of physical principles underlying their methods and syntheses. I have asserted repeatedly to my students, but not publicly until now, that the bifurcation of physical organic and synthetic organic chemistries into separate disciplines driven by pressures to specialize has weakened both fields. Of course, physical organic chemistry felt the pain first as the organic community at large lost interest in the problems they were pursuing and defunded much of it. Decades later the relentless quest of synthetic chemists to finish the large molecule or attain the high enantioselectivity undermined the patience required to probe the underlying first principles. My early critics were also right, however: a decidedly mechanism-driven approach to method development can coexist with, but not easily compete with, empiricism.

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

@Avis is @ToAviss_Cs legit? I think they are trying to scam me

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

Hi @Avis in Spain - flat tire. Your rental car has no spare. The roadside assistance guy couldn’t fix it, so he called a truck to take it away. The phone numbers I’ve been given don’t work until Monday. What should I do?

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

@ToAviss_Cs Thanks

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

@DumeleLab Somehow I never knew about this and my lab is next to his and we eat lunch together regularly

[Merriam-Webster @MerriamWebster]

The SPEAKER implies.

The LISTENER infers.

The DUDE abides.

[Banff Symposium on Organic Chemistry @BanffSOC]

The abstract deadline for BSOC 2025 is approaching on September 1, 2025! In order to not miss a chance to present an oral or a poster presentation, please ensure your abstract is submitted before the deadline. For any questions please contact us at [email protected]

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

Graduate students
Lecture or poster at the 39th Annual RSC Heterocyclic and Synthesis Group Postgraduate Symposium
Thursday 18 Sept 2025 in Oxford
8 lectures by final-year postgraduate students Attendance is free (registration mandatory)
https://t.co/OnGN1VjU5l
Please share

[Langton Research Group @ChemLangton]

We have an opening for a PDRA in my group working in membrane supramolecular chemistry as part of an ERC funded project. Available from October 2025. https://t.co/pGLsOjuyPB

[Steve Fletcher @spfletcher]

lab clean up day

[Marek Group @GroupMarek]

We’re looking for motivated candidates for Master's, PhD and postdoc position with organic chemistry background to join our research group ASAP!👩‍🔬
Interested candidates please send your CV, grades & motivation letter to [email protected] #OrganicChemistry #Technion⚗️🔬