Dr. Colin Seaton

Dr Colin Seaton received a first class BSc(Hons.) in Chemistry from the University of St. Andrews and a PhD in Chemistry froth University of Birmingham with a thesis entitled "Novel Methods of Crystal Structure Determination from Powder X-ray Diffraction Data".
His Research lies in the field of crystal engineering with key interests in polymorphism, creation of multi-component crystals, crystal growth and habit modification. His work brings together both experimental and computational approaches to these problems with a interest in the application of biologically inspired computational methods such as evolutionary algorithms.
Teaching covers atomic and molecular structures, solid-state chemistry and computational chemistry.

My research lies in the field of solid-state molecular chemistry, with the major focus on crystal engineering, the study of crystalline phases and controlling their formation. A key aim is the determination of the factors controlling the creation of crystal phases and using this understanding to design and create new materials. My work covers the development of both experimental (crystallisation processes, phase diagram construction, crystal structural determination by single crystal and powder diffraction methods) and computational methodologies (ab initio calculations, evolutionary algorithms) to gain the insight required.

Current topics of interest include work on understanding influence of experimental conditions on polymorphism through molecular modelling of solvent/solute interactions and molecular conformation, the influence of chemical and crystallographic factors on proton transfer in crystal materials and the creation of multi-component crystals (salts and co-crystals). Development of new computational methodologies to model additive/crystal interactions, molecule/molecule interactions and location of low energy molecular conformations.