Flow technology is a powerful enabling technology that allows the development of synthetic processes that are difficult—or even impossible—to achieve using traditional batch chemistry.

The state-of-the-art facilities available in our Flow Chemistry and Microreactor Technology Laboratory (FLAME-Lab) provide the technological platform required to design, optimize, and scale innovative continuous-flow processes, enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable chemical synthesis

Our research explores the chemistry of highly strained carbocyclic and heterocyclic systems, including aziridines, azetidines, oxazetidines, bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes, cyclopropenes, spirocyclic scaffolds, and other highly strained molecular architectures. We investigate their synthesis, reactivity, and synthetic potential, with particular emphasis on the influence of ring substituents, structural features, conformational dynamics, and stereoelectronic effects that govern their unique chemical behaviour.

We develop innovative synthetic methodologies to access unexplored chemical space through strained heterocycles, carbocycles, spirocyclic scaffolds, and other three-dimensional molecular architectures. By integrating advanced synthetic chemistry with AI-driven bioisosteric analysis and in silico target prediction, we accelerate the identification of promising lead compounds. Computational predictions are complemented by in vitro biological validation, establishing an integrated platform for the discovery of next-generation bioactive molecules.

We develop photocatalytic strategies for the selective generation and functionalization of radical intermediates, enabling the controlled construction of complex molecular architectures. Our research exploits molecules bearing multiple orthogonal photo-labile functional groups, allowing selective activation of a single site under visible light while leaving the others untouched. This concept enables the sequential generation of orthogonally functionalized radicals, providing unprecedented control over radical reactivity and molecular diversification—two birds with one stone: selective bond activation and programmable molecular editing in a single synthetic platform.

In collaboration with Prof. James Bull (Imperial College London), we pioneered a fundamentally new strategy for the electrophilic transfer of a single nitrogen atom through the generation of an iodonitrene intermediate. Following our seminal report in 2016, this concept evolved from a curiosity-driven discovery into a broadly adopted synthetic platform with significant impact in both academia and industry. Today, iodonitrene chemistry has become a powerful tool for the construction of C–N and N–N bonds, enabling the synthesis of valuable nitrogen-containing compounds and inspiring innovative skeletal editing strategies. Our research continues to expand the scope of this unique reactive intermediate, developing unprecedented transformations and exploring new opportunities for the selective introduction of nitrogen into complex molecular architectures.

The unique reactivity of iodonitrene intermediates is opening new frontiers in modern synthetic chemistry, providing innovative solutions for the synthesis and editing of nitrogen-containing molecules.

Understanding reaction mechanisms is at the "heart" of organic transformations. When a mechanism is deeply supported from experimental data, several breakthrough could be achieved and more reliable synthetic strategies can be developed. 

We use modern spectroscopic techniques as tool for the identification of reactive intermediates and for clarify reaction mechanisms. FT-IR, HRMS and Multinuclear Magnetic Resonance are employed for this purpose.