Current Award Winners

Liam Hunt is a PhD candidate at the University of Auckland Supervised by Distinguished Professor Dame Margaret Brimble and Associate Professor Daniel Furkert. Liam has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the JEOL Brian Halton Award for his paper on the total synthesis of (–)-cordycicadin D and the 3,4-trans-cordycicadins A and B. which was published in Angewandte Chemie and later highlighted in Synfacts.

This work reports the first total synthesis of (–)-cordycicadin D and the anticipated natural products 3,4-trans-cordycicadins A and B—complex polyketides featuring an uncommon 3,4-trans-fused-γ-lactone–decalide core. The synthesis confirms the structure of (–)-cordycicadin D and provides access to two anticipated natural products demonstrating how total synthesis can anticipate and access natural products not yet observed in nature. Liam played a central role in the conception and execution of the research and resulting publication.