Thomas Fallon

Research Interests

Organic Chemical Synthesis

Dr Thomas Fallon

Lecturer

School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences

College of Science

The Fallon group works on the chemistry of shape-shifting molecules. These intriguing dynamic systems have no permanent structure and exist in constant metamorphosis. We develop new synthetic and analytical methods, and are applying these systems in molecular devices and medicinal chemistry. 

Date Position Institution name
2026 - ongoing Senior Lecturer University of Adelaide
2024 - 2025 Lecturer University of Adelaide
2023 - 2024 Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow Technical University of Berlin
2022 - 2024 Lecturer University of Newcastle Australia
2018 - 2022 Lecturer University of Adelaide
2015 - 2017 Lecturer Massey University

Year Citation
2026 Birvé, A. P., Bloch, W. M., & Fallon, T. (2026). Steering the Shape-shifting of Bullvalene-PdII Complexes Through Steric and Geometric Strain. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 65(16), e23441-1-e23441-7.
DOI
2026 Birvé, A. P., Bloch, W. M., & Fallon, T. (2026). Steering the Shape-shifting of Bullvalene-Pd¹¹ Complexes Through Steric and Geometric Strain. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 138(16), e23441-1-e23441-7.
DOI
2025 Li, T., Datson, Z., Birvé, A. P., Ciampi, S., Fallon, T., Kosov, D. S., . . . Darwish, N. (2025). Toward Piezoresistive Devices That Exploit Bullvalene's Structural Versatility. Langmuir: the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids, 41(8), 5410-5418.
DOI
2025 Ton, N. N. H., Mai, B. K., Fallon, T., & Nguyen, T. V. (2025). Rapid Access to Conjugated Z,Z,Z-Trienes. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 64(22), e202502713-1-e202502713-8.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC1
2023 Ottonello, A., Wyllie, J. A., Yahiaoui, O., Sun, S., Koelln, R. A., Homer, J. A., . . . Moses, J. E. (2023). Shapeshifting bullvalene-linked vancomycin dimers as effective antibiotics against multidrug-resistant gram-positive bacteria.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(15), e2208737120.
DOI Scopus21 WoS19 Europe PMC12
2023 Smedley, C. J., Giel, M. -C., Fallon, T., & Moses, J. E. (2023). Ethene-1,1-disulfonyl Difluoride (EDSF) for SuFEx Click Chemistry: Synthesis of SuFExable 1,1-Bissulfonylfluoride Substituted Cyclobutene Hubs.. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl, 62(30), e202303916.
DOI Scopus15 WoS16 Europe PMC8
2023 Reimers, J. R., Li, T., Birvé, A. P., Yang, L., Aragonès, A. C., Fallon, T., . . . Darwish, N. (2023). Controlling piezoresistance in single molecules through the isomerisation of bullvalenes. Nature Communications, 14(1), 6089-1-6089-13.
DOI Scopus14 WoS13 Europe PMC9
2023 Smedley, C. J., Giel, M., Fallon, T., & Moses, J. E. (2023). Ethene‐1,1‐disulfonyl Difluoride (EDSF) for SuFEx Click Chemistry: Synthesis of SuFExable 1,1‐Bissulfonylfluoride Substituted Cyclobutene Hubs. Angewandte Chemie, 135(30), e202303916-1-e202303916-5.
DOI
2022 Birve, A., Patel, H. D., Price, J. R., Bloch, W. M., & Fallon, T. (2022). Guest-dependent isomer convergence of a permanently fluxional coordination cage. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 61(9), e202115468-1-e202115468-6.
DOI Scopus36 WoS33 Europe PMC24
2022 Patel, H. D., & Fallon, T. (2022). Two Steps to Bicyclo[4.2.0]octadienes from Cyclooctatetraene: Total Synthesis of Kingianic Acid A.. Organic letters, 24(12), 2276-2281.
DOI Scopus6 WoS5 Europe PMC4
2022 Zur Bonsen, A. B., Peralta, R. A., Fallon, T., Huang, D. M., & George, J. H. (2022). Intramolecular Tricarbonyl-Ene Reactions and α-Hydroxy-β-Diketone Rearrangements Inspired by the Biosynthesis of Polycyclic Polyprenylated Acylphloroglucinols. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 61(34), 1-10.
DOI Scopus11 WoS11 Europe PMC6
2022 Ottonello, A., Wyllie, J. A., Yahiaoui, O., Murray, E., Williams, P., Bolla, J. R., . . . Moses, J. E. (2022). Shapeshifting Antibiotics: Bullvalene Linked Vancomycin Dimers are Effective Against Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Positive Bacteria.
DOI
2022 Birvé, A. P., Patel, H. D., Price, J. R., Bloch, W. M., & Fallon, T. (2022). Guest‐Dependent Isomer Convergence of a Permanently Fluxional Coordination Cage. Angewandte Chemie, 134(9), e202115468-1-e202115468-5.
DOI
2021 Yahiaoui, O., Patel, H. D., Chinner, K. S., Pašteka, L. F., & Fallon, T. (2021). Stereomutation of Substituted Bullvalenes.. Organic letters, 23(4), 1157-1162.
DOI Scopus7 WoS8 Europe PMC4
2021 Shadfar, Z., Yahiaoui, O., Collier, T. A., Fallon, T., & Allison, J. R. (2021). Illustration of a computational pipeline for evaluating cyclodextrin host-guest complex formation through conformational capture of bullvalene.. The Journal of chemical physics, 154(15), 1-15.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5
2021 Patel, H. D., Gaggl, S., Pašteka, L. F., & Fallon, T. (2021). Ambimodal Pericyclic Rearrangements of Dialkenyl-Bullvalenes Give Tetrahydro-1,8-ethenoheptalenes.. Org Lett, 24(1), 319-323.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC2
2020 Patel, H. D., Tran, T. -H., Sumby, C. J., Pašteka, L. F., & Fallon, T. (2020). Boronate Ester Bullvalenes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 142(8), 3680-3685.
DOI Scopus25 WoS25 Europe PMC15
2020 Guo, Y., Empel, C., Pei, C., Atodiresei, I., Fallon, T., & Koenigs, R. M. (2020). Photochemical Cyclopropanation of Cyclooctatetraene and (Poly-)unsaturated Carbocycles.. Organic letters, 22(13), 5126-5130.
DOI Scopus37 WoS38 Europe PMC18
2020 Peralta, R. A., Huxley, M. T., Evans, J. D., Fallon, T., Cao, H., He, M., . . . Doonan, C. J. (2020). Highly active gas phase organometallic catalysis supported within metal-organic framework pores. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 142(31), 13533-13543.
DOI Scopus52 WoS52 Europe PMC25
2020 Vieira de Castro, T., Yahiaoui, O., Peralta, R. A., Fallon, T., Lee, V., & George, J. H. (2020). Biomimetic synthesis enables the structure revision of littordials E and F and drychampone B. Organic Letters, 22(20), 8161-8166.
DOI Scopus22 WoS19 Europe PMC11
2020 Yahiaoui, O., Almass, A., & Fallon, T. (2020). Total synthesis of endiandric acid J and beilcyclone A from cyclooctatetraene. CHEMICAL SCIENCE, 11(35), 9421-9425.
DOI Scopus11 WoS11 Europe PMC9
2020 Lording, W. J., Fallon, T., Sherburn, M. S., & Paddon-Row, M. N. (2020). The simplest Diels-Alder reactions are not: Endo -selective. Chemical Science, 11(43), 11915-11926.
DOI Scopus36 WoS34 Europe PMC20
2019 Murray, L. A. M., Fallon, T., Sumby, C. J., & George, J. H. (2019). Total synthesis of naphterpin and marinone natural products. Organic Letters, 21(20), 8312-8315.
DOI Scopus28 WoS23 Europe PMC11
2019 Yahiaoui, O., Pašteka, L. F., Blake, C. J., Newton, C. G., & Fallon, T. (2019). Network Analysis of Substituted Bullvalenes.. Org Lett, 21(23), 9574-9578.
DOI Scopus16 WoS16 Europe PMC11
2019 Patel, H., Tran, T. H., Sumby, C., Pašteka, L., & Fallon, T. (2019). Boronate Ester Bullvalenes.
DOI
2018 Yahiaoui, O., Pašteka, L., Judeel, B., & Fallon, T. (2018). Synthesis and Analysis of Substituted Bullvalenes. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 57(10), 2570-2574.
DOI Scopus39 WoS35 Europe PMC24
2018 Yahiaoui, O., Pašteka, L. F., Judeel, B., & Fallon, T. (2018). Frontispiz: Synthesis and Analysis of Substituted Bullvalenes. Angewandte Chemie, 130(10).
DOI
2018 Yahiaoui, O., Pašteka, L. F., Judeel, B., & Fallon, T. (2018). Synthesis and Analysis of Substituted Bullvalenes. Angewandte Chemie, 130(10), 2600-2604.
DOI
2018 Yahiaoui, O., Pašteka, L. F., Judeel, B., & Fallon, T. (2018). Frontispiece: Synthesis and Analysis of Substituted Bullvalenes. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 57(10).
DOI
2017 Fallon, T., & Meek, T. (2017). Simplified "no-D" NMR Methods for Routine Analysis and Organometallic Reagent Concentration Determination. Organic Letters, 19(21), 5752-5755.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC1
2016 Saglam, M. F., Fallon, T., Paddon-Row, M. N., & Sherburn, M. S. (2016). Discovery and computational rationalization of diminishing alternation in [n]dendralenes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 138(3), 1022-1032.
DOI Scopus31 WoS31 Europe PMC15
2015 Mackay, E., Newton, C., Toombs-Ruane, H., Lindeboom, E., Fallon, T., Willis, A., . . . Sherburn, M. (2015). [5]Radialene. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 137(46), 14653-14659.
DOI Scopus30 WoS28 Europe PMC17
2015 Fallon, T., & Oestreich, M. (2015). A Constellation of Deuterium-Labeled Silanes as a Simple Mechanistic Probe not Requiring Absolute Configuration Determination. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 54(42), 12488-12491.
DOI Scopus25 WoS23 Europe PMC17
2015 Pareek, M., Fallon, T., & Oestreich, M. (2015). Platinum(0)-Catalyzed Indolyne Insertion into Bis(pinacolato)diboron Followed by Site-Selective Suzuki-Miyaura Cross-Coupling. Organic Letters, 17(9), 2082-2085.
DOI Scopus25 WoS20 Europe PMC13
2014 Fallon, T., Willis, A. C., Paddon-Row, M. N., & Sherburn, M. S. (2014). Furanodendralenes. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 79(7), 3185-3193.
DOI Scopus16 WoS16 Europe PMC10
2014 Redies, K. M., Fallon, T., & Oestreich, M. (2014). En route to stable all-carbon-substituted silylenes: Synthesis and reactivity of a bis(α-spirocyclopropyl)silylene. Organometallics, 33(13), 3235-3238.
DOI Scopus13 WoS11
2012 Fallon, T., Willis, A. C., Rae, A. D., Paddon-Row, M. N., & Sherburn, M. S. (2012). β-Oligofurans. Chemical Science, 3(6), 2133-2137.
DOI Scopus26 WoS26
2011 Toombs-Ruane, H., Osinski, N., Fallon, T., Wills, C., Willis, A. C., Paddon-Row, M. N., & Sherburn, M. S. (2011). Synthesis and applications of tricarbonyliron complexes of dendralenes. Chemistry an Asian Journal, 6(12), 3243-3250.
DOI Scopus16 WoS14 Europe PMC7
2010 Fallon, T., Robinson, D. E. J. E., Willis, A. C., Paddon-Row, M. N., & Sherburn, M. S. (2010). Double dehydro-diels-alder reactions of 1,5-dien-3-ynes. Chemistry A European Journal, 16(3), 760-765.
DOI Scopus8 WoS7 Europe PMC2

New Zealand Royal Society Marsden Fast-Start grant 2016-2019.

ARC Discovery grant 2025-2028.

  • Chemical Kinetics (1st year)
  • Purification and Analytical Chemistry (2nd year)
  • Aromatic chemistry (2nd year)
  • Bioorganic chemistry (2nd year)
  • Stereoselective synthesis (3rd year)
  • Pericyclic Chemistry (Honours)

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2026 Principal Supervisor The rational design of hypoxia-targeted theranostics Master of Research Master Full Time Ms Liv Thomas
2025 Co-Supervisor Biomimetic Synthesis of Natural Products Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Matthew Alexander Coleman
2025 Principal Supervisor Chemical Synthesis of Shape-Shifting Cyclic Peptides Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Qiyuan Tao
2025 Principal Supervisor Development of a novel method for the solution-phase synthesis of sequence-defined polymers with potential biomimetic application Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Rachel Josephine Tishler
2024 Principal Supervisor Synthesis and application of substituted bullvalenes Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Andre Pierson Birve
2024 Co-Supervisor Developing new methods for drug release targeting cell surface receptor density. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Maya Liza Doyle
2021 Principal Supervisor Synthesis and application of substituted bullvalenes Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Andre Pierson Birve

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2022 - 2022 Co-Supervisor Biomimetic Synthesis Enables the Structural Revision of Natural Products Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Tomas Mendes Gouveia Vieira deCastro
2020 - 2023 Principal Supervisor Diels-Alder and Electrocyclic Strategies in Complex Molecule Synthesis Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Isuru Dissanayake Mudiyanselage
2020 - 2024 External Supervisor The Application of Peroxygenase P450 Enzymes as Selective Oxidation Catalysts Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Jinia Akter
2019 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Biomimetic Total Synthesis of Meroterpenoid Natural Products Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Sarah Alexandra French
2018 - 2022 Principal Supervisor Synthesis and Applications of Substituted Bullvalenes and The Synthesis of Bicyclo[4.2.0]octadiene Derived Natural Products Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Harshal Deepak Patel
2018 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Synthesis and Network Analysis of Substituted Bullvalenes and the Total Synthesis of Endiandric Acid J and Beilcyclone A Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Ossama Yahiaoui
2018 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Small Molecules Targeting Novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis Drug Targets Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Nicholas Charles Schumann

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