Alexandra K. de K. Lewis

A generic approach for the catalytic reduction of nitriles

The scope of nickel boride mediated reduction of nitriles has been extended further to allow the preparation of Boc protected amines via a mild catalytic process. It is noteworthy that the toxicity of this procedure is greatly reduced due to its catalytic nature in nickel(II) chloride used in combination with excess sodium borohydride. The protocol is marked by its resilience towards air and moisture and hence an easy and general practical protocol.

Studies on high-temperature amination reactions of aromatic chlorides using discrete Palladium-N-Heterocyclic Carbene (NHC) complexes and in situ palladium/imidazolium salt protocols

The palladium catalysed coupling of aryl chlorides and amines can be readily achieved with short reaction times when carried out at high temperatures under thermal or microwave conditions. These coupling protocols are successful using two co-ordinate palladium-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes, or imidazolium salt protocols.

Synthesis and reactivity of alkyl palladium N-heterocyclic carbene complexes

The transamination of alkyl-palladium halide N-heterocyclic carbene complexes has enabled the isolation of products that reveal interesting insights into the factors which might be barriers to the development of a palladium-catalysed alkyl-amination reaction.

European Union Anti-Piracy Initiatives in the Horn of Africa: Linking Land Based Counter-Piracy with Maritime Security and Regional Development

Abstract Piracy off the coast of Somalia has resulted in a steady decline in trade through the Arabian Sea and higher costs of doing business for multiple world regions. The EU has responded to the threat with a large-scale anti-piracy operation in the Horn of Africa, which constitutes the first free-standing Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) military operation that is not entirely dependent on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) planning and assets. The operation is designed to interdict Somali piracy operations across the Gulf of Aden and to keep some of the world’s busiest sea lanes open for reasons of world trade. This article argues that the EU preoccupation with military solutions to the piracy problem, based on interventions through the Somali federal government with an emphasis on security, is insufficient because it fails to address the underlying causes of piracy and misunderstands the Somali socio-cultural-security nexus and the need for practical longer term land-based approaches to development. The reduction of Somali piracy activities can be linked to this increased military response capacity as well as to increased security precautions undertaken by shipping companies, but none of these strategies has succeeded in dismantling piracy networks. They therefore offer only a temporary and costly stopgap measure.

Understanding the Connections between the EU Global Strategy and Somali Peacebuilding Education Needs and Priorities

This paper examines the connections between identity politics and European Union (EU) aid effectiveness in peacebuilding education in Somalia. It engages with a severe educational challenge, which is that a lack of capacity in rigorous educational design and/or implementation across Somali Ministries in the South Central Zone, Somaliland and Puntland has led to the importation of multiple foreign curricula into the country simultaneously that do not address Somali history and contemporary conflict drivers and that frequently clash with local values as well as with each other. We critique this from a ‘new barbarism’ perspective, arguing that Somali voices and educational priorities have not been provided a sufficient space for expression in the EU debate on the global and therefore also the national development agenda.