Professor Kevin Lam

Kevin Lam is Professor of Synthetic Electrochemistry at the University of Greenwich and Head of the Centre for Synthesis, Materials, Analytics and Research in Translational Science, C-SMART. His research develops electrochemical methods that control reactive-intermediate generation, explain how electron transfer governs selectivity and translate useful reactions into reproducible batch and flow processes.

His programme has been supported by UK, European, charitable and industrial funding, including Horizon Europe, EPSRC, the Leverhulme Trust, the ACS Petroleum Research Fund, AstraZeneca and GSK.

More than €7 million in awards as principal investigator or co-investigator, as reported by the University of Greenwich.

Research interests

• Reactive-intermediate electrogeneration
• Mechanistic electrochemistry
• Electrochemical fluorination and carbonyl chemistry
• Flow electrosynthesis and process translation

Career

1. Current leadershipHead of the Centre for Synthesis, Materials, Analytics and Research in Translational Science (C-SMART), University of Greenwich
2. 2023 to presentProfessor of Synthetic Electrochemistry, University of Greenwich
3. 2017 to 2023Reader and Associate Professor in Medicinal Electrochemistry, University of Greenwich
4. 2013 to 2017Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Nazarbayev University
5. 2011 to 2013Postdoctoral Associate in Molecular Electrochemistry, University of Vermont
6. 2010PhD in Medicinal and Organic Chemistry, Université catholique de Louvain, with Professor István Markó

Funding and recognition

Public engagement and media

Electrochemistry beyond the laboratory

Professor Lam communicates electrochemistry beyond academia through public lectures, outreach and media engagement, presenting it as a practical tool for decarbonisation and more sustainable synthesis.

He has contributed scientific advice to broadcast demonstrations, including work connected with the Channel 5 factual series James May: The Human Machine. The four-part programme examines the human body through experiments and visits to research laboratories.

Scientific community

SynTech 2026

Professor Lam helped establish and organise SynTech 2026, a three-day Synthesis Technology Symposium at the University of Greenwich. The inaugural meeting brought together 150 participants from around the world to exchange ideas across modern synthetic chemistry and enabling technologies. Professors Donna Blackmond and Phil Baran received the SynTech 2026 Prize for Innovation in Chemistry.

Explore the SynTech 2026 programme

Selected publications

• Practical and Divergent Electrochemical Access to Thiocarbamoyl Fluorides and N-Trifluoromethyl Amines from Secondary Amines, Nature Communications, 2026
• Electrochemical Trideuteromethylation with AcOD-d₄: A Route to CD₃-Labeled Building Blocks, Organic Letters, 2026
• eCyanation: A Dual Strategy for Electrochemical Cyanation of Amines Using Potassium Thiocyanate, ACS Electrochemistry, 2026
• eCyclopropanation: A Safe and Scalable Electrochemical Route to Cyclopropanes, Chemical Science, 2026
• eCarbonyls: An Electrochemical Thioether-Mediated Oxidation of Alcohols to Aldehydes and Ketones, Chemical Science, 2025

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