Abstract:The long-term collaboration with Prof. John R Jones has enabled the development or discovery of a range of one-step 3 H-and 2 H-labelling approaches. These include; (a) RhCl 3 .3H 2 O and COD.Ir.Acac catalysed ortho-exchange of aromatic acids, amides, benzylamines, anilides, sulphonamides, etc, using isotopic water as the donor in DMF or DMA solution, (b) the COD.Ir.F 6 Acac catalysed ortho-labelling of anilines, benzylamines and other N-heterocyclics using isotopic hydrogen gas in DMA at RT, (c) the a-and b-labelling of piperidines, piperazines and other secondary amines using catalytic Ru(CO) 6 Cl 2 or (C 6 H 5 ) 2 RuCl 2 with deuterium oxide in DMSO, (d) the a-labelling of pyridines and other N-heteroaromatics using rhodium and ruthenium heterogeneous catalysts with isotopic hydrogen gas in THF at RT and (e) the preparation of an efficient and clean polystyrene-based Ir(I) phosphine catalyst for the labelling of aromatic esters, aromatic ketones, sulphones, amides, anilides, etc, using isotopic hydrogen gas in dichloromethane at RT. Latterly, screening for the terminal-methylene labelling of 1-monosubstituted and 1,1-disubstituted alkenes has provided new catalytic systems for this transformation. In addition, it has provided evidence for the significance of secondary metal alkyl intermediates in the general mechanism of catalytic alkene exchange and reduction. These studies were facilitated by the application of a 3 H-NMR cryoprobe.Keywords: isotope-exchange; ortho-labelling; catalysis; alkene-exchange; hydrogenation-mechanism; deuteration; tritiation Introduction: Professor John Richards Jones was a very significant figure in the field of isotopic chemistry. His collaborations were many and varied, and his influence was very extensive. This paper describes a range of studies either carried out in conjunction with, or which received some useful input from, Prof. Jones during the 25 years of our collaboration. It describes useful labelling procedures and mechanistic investigations which have broad applications or significance for our field of science. It also gives a necessarily brief resume of the further developments which have been achieved in some of these fields since his retirement and death.For reasons of brevity other areas of our collaboration; 3 H-NMR cryoprobe development, [1a] dehalogenation studies, [1b,j] iodination methods, [1c] microwave applications, [1d] ligand receptor interactions, [1e] isotopic data processing applications [1f,g,h] and much of the work on alkene and alkyne reduction and exchange [1i,j] have been omitted, but are referenced above for those with interests in these areas. The paper therefore concentrates solely upon the following two areas.Results and Discussion: Part 1. Collaboration with AstraZeneca on tritium-labelling methods.The initial aim of the AstraZeneca (AZ)/Surrey collaboration was to produce general and practical one-step isotope exchange procedures for labelling polar xenobiotics with tritium. The project was initiated by a thorough study of the...