Research & Discoveries
Current Areas of Study
Synthetic Methodology for Bioactive Molecules
Synthetic methodology development and reaction condition optimization have emerged as an increasingly powerful platform for molecular synthesis, including natural products with complex structures and multiple chiral centers, drug and bioactive compounds and their intermediates. Among them, the transition metal-catalyzed C–H activation occupied a dominating position and has attracted much research interest in the past several decades.
Ref: Chemical Communications, 2022, 58 (9), 1385. Inorganic Chemistry, 2020, 59 (15), 10450. Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry, 2015, 52 (5), 1565. Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry, 2015, 52 (1), 201. Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry, 2014, 51 (6), 1811. European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2013, 24, 5431. Research on Chemical Intermediates, 2013, 39, 615. Catalysis Communications, 2012, 38, 1743. Research on Chemical Intermediates, 2012, 38, 1743.
Colorimetric and Fluorescent Sensors
The highly efficient design and synthesis of organic fluorophores with excellent quantum yields have received extensive attention. They have been widely used in the area of organic light-emitting diodes and organic fluorescent chemosensors. Nowadays, developing molecular probes which are able to detect two (or more than two) different analytes (cations, anions, and/or biomolecules) have emerged as a new research area and attracted considerable attention in the field of chemo- and biosensors.
Ref: Organic Chemistry Frontiers, 2018, 5, 3170. Research on Chemical Intermediates, 2014, 40 (4), 1469. Analytical Methods, 2013, 5, 1612. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 2009, 73 (5), 789.
Stimuli-responsive Functional Materials
Viologen as one of the redox-responsive units, has been adopted in various polymeric materials and hydrogels, especially in developing artificial molecular muscles. It can easily convert chemical energy to mechanical force under redox conditions. Through rational structure design, the self-healing (via Van der Waals interaction) and reprocessing (via covalently adaptable networks) properties can be introduced to the viologen-based functional materials, to prolong the lifetime and reduce chemical waste.
Ref: ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2023, 15 (21), 25134. ACS Appl. Polym. Mater., 2022, 4 (12), 9360. Macromolecules, 2022, 55 (11), 4703. Chem. Commun., 2022, 58, 1358. Organic Materials, 2021, 3 (2), 302. Macromolecular Rapid Communication, 2021, 42 (18), 2100054. Chemical Science, 2020, 11, 10190. Chemical Science, 2020, 11, 10910.
