Chemical Communications Blog

We are excited to share the success of Naoyuki Shimada’s first-time independent article in ChemComm; “Catalytic dehydrative amide bond formation using aqueous ammonia: synthesis of primary amides utilizing diboronic acid anhydride catalysis” included in the full milestones collection. 

Read our interview with Naoyuki below.

What are the main areas of research in your lab and what motivated you to take this direction?

My research focuses on the development of efficient synthetic methodologies taking advantage of the properties of organoboron compounds. Specifically, the development of amide bond and peptide bond formation reactions based on the electrophilic activation of carboxylic acid derivatives utilizing multi-organoboron catalysts, and the development of site-selective functionalizations and glycosylations of carbohydrates based on the nucleophilic activation of hydroxyl groups utilizing Lewis base-containing organoboron catalysts. My motivation for promoting the research is that organoboron compounds exhibit interesting and diverse reactivities, and that the development of new organoboron catalysis has the potential to lead to the efficient synthesis of bioorganic molecules such as peptides, sugar chains, and glycolipids.

Can you set this article in a wider context?

Primary amides are important chemical linkages found in many pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals, and bioactive natural products. So, the development of efficient synthetic methodologies for primary amides are in high demand. Although many synthetic approaches of primary amides have been developed, the direct amidation of readily available carboxylic acids with ammonia equivalents is one of the most direct approaches. Moreover, inexpensive and safe aqueous ammonia is the ideal ammonia equivalent. A wide variety of organoboron-catalyzed dehydrative amidations have been developed to synthesize secondary and tertiary amides. However, these have been difficult to apply to the synthesis of primary amides using aqueous ammonia because common organoboron catalysis requires dehydrative operations such as the addition of dehydrating agents or azeotropic reflux to remove water. In this study, my research group reported the development of a catalytic synthesis of primary amides by dehydrative condensation of a-hydroxycarboxylic acid or b-hydroxycarboxylic acids with aqueous ammonia. The key to the success of this research is the use of my unique diboronic anhydride (DBAA) catalyst.

What do you hope your lab can achieve in the coming year?

In this report, it was clarified that the dehydrative amide condensations proceed even under hydrous conditions using aqueous ammonia as the amine substrate by utilizing diboronic anhydride catalyst (DBAA), so in the future, I would like to challenge the development of a dehydrative condensation in aqueous media. Since the development of a reaction that proceeds even at lower temperatures without any dehydrative operations is also another challenge, I would like to overcome this problem by creating new diboronic acid anhydride catalysts. Finally, I hope that the first graduate students in my lab will complete their degrees and work as researchers.

Describe your journey to becoming an independent researcher.

My journey started with the development of Brønsted acid catalysis in water utilizing water-soluble calix arenes as inverse phase-transfer catalysts under the supervision of Prof. Shoichi Shimizu at Nihon University (“Mannich-type reactions in water using anionic water-soluble calixarenes as recoverable and reusable catalysts; Green Chem., 2006, 8, 608–614; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/B603962F”). During that time, I experienced the wonders of scientific research and obtained my Master’s degree in engineering. After that, I joined the research group of Prof. Shunichi Hashimoto at Hokkaido University to develop the enantioselective carbon–carbon bond formation reactions using dirhodium catalysts incorporating N-phthaloyl amino acids as chiral bridging ligands (Hashimoto catalyst). After I received my Ph.D. at Hokkaido, I spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Tius’ research group at the University of Hawaii, where I developed an asymmetric Nazarov cyclization reaction. In this way, my experience in developing catalytic reactions with different approaches, such as reaction processes, catalysts, and reactions, has become my asset as a researcher. After returning to Japan, I worked in the Prof. Makino research group at Kitasato University, developing catalytic reactions utilizing the unique reactivities of organoboron compounds, and received the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan Division of Organic Chemistry Award in 2021. I got the opportunity to start my independent research group in the department of chemistry and moved to Nihon University in April 2022.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

“A person cannot live alone. People live by being supported by many people and things. The only way to repay that kindness is to nurture people and make use of things.” This is the advice I got from my great-grandfather who was a monk when I was in elementary school.

Why did you choose to publish in ChemComm?

ChemComm is one of the leading journals in chemical science, publishing new and important findings in short communications. ChemComm has readers all over the world, because of its long history and high reliability. A rapid peer review system is also attractive to researchers. In addition, ChemComm was the first paper for Professor Shimizu, the birth father of my research, after starting his new independent research project (“Water-soluble calixarenes as new inverse phase-transfer catalysts. Nucleophilic substitution of alkyl and arylalkyl halides in aqueous media; Chem. Commun., 1997, 1629–1630; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/A704347C”). After starting my own independent research group, I wanted to publish my first paper in ChemComm.

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Naoyuki Shimada obtained his B.Eng. in 2001, and M.Eng. in 2003 from Nihon University under the guidance of Prof. Shoichi Shimizu. He received his Ph.D. in 2007 from Hokkaido University under the supervision of Prof. Shunichi Hashimoto. After that, he worked as a Research Associate and an Assistant Professor (non-tenure) at Hokkaido University, he joined Prof. Tius’ Research Group at University of Hawaii at Manoa as a Postdoctoral Researcher in 2009. He returned to Japan as an Assistant Professor at Kitasato University in 2011, and was promoted to Junior Associate Professor in 2019. He moved to the Department of Chemistry, Nihon University as a Principal Investigator in 2022. He received the Kaneka Award in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan, Pharmaceutical Society of Japan Division of Organic Chemistry Award, and the UBE Young Researcher Award. His research interest is the development of organic reactions using organoboron catalysts and their application to the synthesis of biological molecules.   Group website: https://www.shimadalab.org/en

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We are excited to share the success of Weijin Li’s first-time independent article in ChemComm; “Bionic electroluminescent perovskite light-emitting device” included in the full milestones collection. 

Read our interview with Weijin below.

What are the main areas of research in your lab and what motivated you to take this direction?

My lab’s research areas include open framework materials (e.g. metal-organic frameworks, hydrogen organic frameworks), thin films and their electrical (e.g. dielectric)/ luminescent/sensing properties. Focus on the scientific questions inside the energy conversion, I am motivated to take the direction of dielectric control of open framework materials and film assembly. By controlling the dielectric constant and consumption, we aim to design either high-dielectric materials for energy storage or dielectric materials for electromagnetic radiation shielding. Besides, human health will face a great threat if one contacts polluted gas, water and some other agents. Inspired by the sensing mechanism of open framework materials based on a dielectric or luminescent behaviour change, we will also take the direction of dielectric and luminescent materials for sensing devices.

Can you set this article in a wider context?

The novelty of this work is in its configuration of fluorescent films. The ultrafast dynamic color change with ultra-high-definition flat panel display was realized in a simple and facile way based on perovskite light-emitting-diodes (PeLED). A PeLED displaying green color is combined with a brown fluorescent coating layer to form a hybrid FC-PeLED system. The FC-PeLED system can simulate the complete cycle of bionic plant colors from green to yellow through low energy (<0.6 mW) input. Thanks to the low-power-consumption/high-brightness of the PeLED and the color adjustability of the fluorescent layer, we built a new type of bionic electroluminescence system (FC-PeLED). The bionic process for the entirely natural process of ginkgo leaves realized by the obtained FC-PeLED will promote the future development of low-cost and low-power consumption bionic technology.

What do you hope your lab can achieve in the coming year?

In the coming year, we hope to develop crystalline coordination polymers with fast bionic color change at the stimulation of an electrical field and reveal the electrochromic mechanism. Focus on our research direction, both theoretical and experimental insights of dielectric materials based on conductive coordination polymers are going to be brought to light in the coming year.

Describe your journey to becoming an independent researcher.

I obtained my PhD degree under the supervision of Prof. Rong Cao (NSFC distinguished professor) at the Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015, where my thesis was “Preparation and properties of carboxyl-based metal-organic frameworks film”. Since 2016, I join Prof. Cao’s lab in Xiamen University, with the close collaboration of Prof. Xinchen Wang at Fuzhou University and Prof. Lasheng Long and Prof. Jun Tao at Xiamen University, on the topic of dielectric properties of metal-organic framework thin film. After a one-year postdoctoral stay at Xiamen University, I joined Prof. Roland A. Fischer’s group at the Chair of Inorganic and Metal-organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, Germany (2016-2021), under funding support from the Joint Chinese Scholarship Council-German Academic Exchange Service (CSC-DAAD), an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship and German Research Foundation (DFG), and worked on preparation and study of metal-organic framework thin film for electrocatalysis. I was awarded the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship under the host of Prof. Takuzo Aida in Riken with the research on “mass transport in two-dimensional nanospace formed by polymeric nanosheets”. Unfortunately, due to the 2019-coro pandemic situation, I was unable to join Prof. Aida and just worked with Prof. Aida and colleagues online for some research exchanges and discussions. By chance, I was granted an Overseas High-level Recruitment of Talents-Youth Project in 2021. Then, I began my independent Professorship at the School of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology with an interest in open framework materials and their dielectric/luminescent/sensing properties.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been give?

“Perseverance is helpful for researchers since it is common that researcher obtains more negative results than good results.”

Why did you choose to publish in ChemComm?

I published a work “patterned growth of luminescent metal-organic framework film: a versatile method for electrochemical-assisted microwave deposition” and also see recent publications in ChemComm related luminescent materials. Consideration of the novelty of my work, thus I decide to submit it to ChemComm.

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Weijin Li received his Ph.D. at Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015. During six years of postdoctoral experience across Xiamen University, China (2015-2016) and Technical University of Munich, Germany (2016-2021), Weijin received the research awards of an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Granted Overseas High-level Recruitment of Talents-Youth Project, Weijin began his independent Professorship at the School of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology in 2021. His research interest focuses on inorganic and organic hybrid materials and their dielectric/luminescent/sensing properties. Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Weijin-Li

Explore more ChemComm Milestones news and updates on our Twitter: @ChemCommun

We are excited to share the success of Zhen Jiang’s first-time independent article in ChemComm; “Designing strong, fast, high-performance hydrogel actuators” included in the full milestones collection. 

Read our interview with Zhen below.

What are the main areas of research in your lab and what motivated you to take this direction?

In my project, harnessing the power of organic/polymer chemistry, we are designing and synthesizing new polymeric materials that could shape the future of soft robotics. The created polymers can change their shape or size in response to stimuli like electricity, heat, light, chemical or pH. We are very passionate about this research because we believe that expansion of the capabilities of soft robotics requires new synthetic polymeric materials.

Can you set this article in a wider context?

A key component in soft robotic devices is soft actuators which can transduce energy into mechanical motions. Among all of the soft actuator materials, hydrogels absorbing large amounts of water are particularly promising to be integrated into soft robotics, due to their tissue-like softness, and ability to undergo large deformations. However, there are substantial shortcomings that limit their performance and real-world applications.

In this Highlight, we discuss the recent advances in material designs to address pre-existing limitations in hydrogel actuators such as poor mechanical properties, slow actuation speed and limited actuation performance. We also comment on the important role of synthetic chemistry in creating hydrogel actuators with improved material performance and exceptional functionalities. It is thus anticipated that our article can spark great interest among chemistry community in developing advanced materials for soft robots.

What do you hope your lab can achieve in the coming year?

In the next few years, using molecular design principles, we will focus on synthesizing advanced soft actuator materials exhibiting a unique combination of high-power actuation, excellent mechanical properties and good processability.

Describe your journey to becoming an independent researcher.

I did my Master in Material Science at Fudan University, China. I was trained with extensive organic chemistry skills to synthesize functional small molecules/polymers and learned how to design photodeformable polymers. Then I went to University of Queensland for my PhD study, working on a number of projects related to synthetic polymers while aiming for different applications including high-resolution lithography, functional nanopatterns and soft actuators. These research experience enable me to develop a high level of independence which lay foundation for my current project. In 2022, I was awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (ARC DECRA) to broaden my network and mature as an independent researcher.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been give?

The best advice I have received is probably from my Master supervisor Prof. Yanlei Yu at Fudan University “Opportunities are only for those who are prepared”. This advice helps me get through the tough time in my research career, and keeps me optimistic and have faith.

Why did you choose to publish in ChemComm?

As a polymer chemist, I am a regular reader of ChemComm which is one of the best journals in the field of chemical science. The reviewer’s comments are very helpful in improving the quality of submitted manuscripts. I am also especially impressed by its strong support to early career researchers.

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Zhen Jiang is an early-career polymer chemist, specializing in designing and synthesizing stimuli-responsive soft materials for soft robotics and artificial muscles. He received his B.Eng. in Polymer Science and Engineering from Donghua University in 2011, his M.Eng. in Materialogy from Fudan University in 2014, and his Ph.D. in Polymer Science from The University of Queensland in 2018. In 2022, he received Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) from Australian Research Council (ARC) to advance his research career. His research interests include soft actuators, liquid crystalline elastomers, hydrogels, and photo-responsive polymers.

Explore more ChemComm Milestones news and updates on our Twitter: @ChemCommun

We are excited to share the success of Dinesh Shetty’s first-time independent article in ChemComm; “Salicylaldehydate coordinated two-dimensional-conjugated metal–organic frameworks” included in the full milestones collection. 

Read our interview with Dinesh below.

What are the main areas of research in your lab and what motivated you to take this direction?

We are working on designing tunable porous materials for energy and water purification applications. The major focus is to develop framework materials/membranes for emerging water pollutants removal and also for desalination via capacitive deionization. In parallel, we are working on both photocatalytic and electrocatalytic framework materials for CO2 and N2 conversion, battery, and supercapacitor. The motivation is stemming from the fact that both focused research areas are socially relevant and need of the time.

Can you set this article in a wider context?

The novelty of this work is in its simplicity. The building block that we utilized for the construction of conjugated MOFs can be synthesized economically and the method we followed is green (first time in c-MOFs synthesis). The advantage of these combinations helping us to scale up and utilize these interesting materials in many applications.

What do you hope your lab can achieve in the coming year?

We are in the direction of achieving an interesting efficient framework system (both covalent organic frameworks and conjugated metal organic frameworks) that can be useful in energy conversion and water purification. We are on the path to developing a scaleup fabrication setup for above mentioned materials, which will help us to achieve the path of real-life applications (in a way commercialization)

Describe your journey to becoming an independent researcher.

It was a rough one but I started to appreciate it more now. It took 8 years after my PhD to get an independent position, however, those years of experience in interdisciplinary fields and spending time with world-renowned scientists really helped me to shape my career. The journey also helped me to gain my trust in the relevance of perseverance and hard work to achieve your dreams. Another advantage of my journey is learning multicultural scientific environment (I spent time in India, USA, and South Korea before starting my independent career), which is greatly helping me to supervise a group of scientists and students coming from different parts of the world.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been give?

It was from my parents: ‘Your knowledge should not be judged by your medals/laurels but should be judged by how it helps solve the social problems

Why did you choose to publish in ChemComm?

Firstly, it is one of the best short communications journals: readers friendly and has sharp scientific ideas and broad-readership. Secondly, it is close to my heart as I published a major part of my PhD work in this journal many years ago.

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Dr. Dinesh Shetty is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Science, Khalifa University since fall-2019. He holds Ph.D. in chemistry from Seoul National University (SNU), South Korea. From 2011 to 2013, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, USA, and later moved back to South Korea in the year 2013 where he was a research fellow in the group of Professor Kimoon Kim at the Center for Self-assembly and Complexity, Institute for Basic Science, POSTECH. In 2016, he moved to New York University Abu Dhabi as a research scientist. He is a trained chemist with experience in multidisciplinary research areas including material science, porous materials, renewable energy, water purification, supramolecular chemistry, and biomedical science. He is the author of 53 peer-reviewed journal papers, >30 conference papers, 21 invited talks, and 6 patents with an h-index of 27. He received Young Investigator Award from the Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine and the Best Researcher Award from the Korean Cancer Research Foundation. He is the recipient of the US National Academy of Science Arab-American Frontiers seed grant. His author profile was recently introduced by Angewandte Chemistry International Edition, a flagship chemistry journal. He delivered research talks in multiple countries and is currently an active member of the Royal Society of Chemistry under the Future Leaders in the Filed category. In his free time, he writes poems and newspaper column articles and also podcasts his thoughts. His research interest is focused on the development of multifunctional materials for various applications including energy, water purification, and biomedical applications. A list of publications can be found at: Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=QVgucAQAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Explore more ChemComm Milestones news and updates on our Twitter: @ChemCommun

We are excited to share the success of Shi-Qiang Wang’s first-time independent article in ChemComm; “Adsorbate-dependent phase switching in the square lattice topology coordination network [Ni(4,4′-bipyridine)₂(NCS)₂]_n” included in the full milestones collection. 

Read our interview with Shi-Qiang below.

What are the main areas of research in your lab and what motivated you to take this direction?

My research focuses on crystal engineering of metal-organic materials (PCPs/PCNs/MOFs) for gas storage, water sorption and hydrocarbon separations. In particular, the unusual “switching” behaviour of a series of square lattice coordination networks has fascinated me to work on this field.

Can you set this article in a wider context?

Gas storage is an important but energy-intensive process in industry. Although porous physisorbent materials hold significant promise in addressing this matter, they suffer from relatively low working capacity due to the Langmuir (type I) sorption isotherms. Flexible/switching coordination networks or MOFs featuring stepped sorption isotherms may provide higher working capacity and better thermal management than rigid sorbents with type I isotherms. However, their responsiveness to different adsorbates remains largely understudied.

In this work, we report the sorption properties of nine gases (N₂, CH₄, CO₂, C₂H₂, C₂H₄, C₂H₆, C₃H₄, C₃H₆, and C₃H₈) for a prototypal switching coordination network, [Ni(4,4’-bipyridine)₂(NCS)₂] (sql-1-Ni-NCS), which exhibits adsorbate-dependent switching pressures and sorption uptakes. The primary message from this study is that nonporous materials (as determined by their crystal structures and/or 77 K N₂ sorption data) should not be discarded as candidates for sorption-based applications as they may exhibit exceptionally high gas sorption working capacity through a phase switching mechanism.

What do you hope your lab can achieve in the coming year?

In the coming year, I hope we can develop a simple and cheap, sustainable and environment-friendly method for manufacturing functional metal-organic materials in large scale that meet the needs of industry and society. We are also open for potential collaborations from different perspectives to make the world better together.

Describe your journey to becoming an independent researcher.

I started my “chem journey” since I was an undergraduate at Hebei University (2009-2013) where I learnt fundamental knowledge of different chemistry disciplines (e.g., Inorganic, Organic, Analytical, and Physical Chemistry). I then majored in Inorganic Chemistry for my Master’s degree (2013-2016) and conducted systematic research under the supervision of Prof. Xiang-Jian Kong and Prof. La-Sheng Long at Xiamen University. I worked on 3d-4f metal clusters and studied their magnetism and chirality.

Although I changed my research topics to higher dimensional (2 or 3D) metal-organic materials during my PhD study, the skills I have learnt previously helped me a lot. Under the guidance of Prof. Michael Zaworotko at the University of Limerick (2016-2022), I developed a family of 2D switching coordination networks that can be potentially used for gas storage and hydrocarbon separations. Afterwards, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with A/Prof. Dan Zhao as a Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore where I worked on advanced porous materials for air dehumidification.

Recently, I joined the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), which is a leading research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore. As a Scientist at IMRE, I will continue my research, which is already part of my life, and hope to discover more advanced materials for real-world applications.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been give?

Negative results can be also informative and should not be just laid aside and neglected. Unfortunately, it is common that researchers are keen on publishing the best results and pursuing new records, while it is also meaningful and important to mention what they have tried or failed before reaching the targeted goals.

Why did you choose to publish in ChemComm?

My first first-author paper was published in ChemComm in 2018 (https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CC03838D), and I was impressed by its rapid publication, excellent reputation, and broad audience. It thus prompted me to submit my first independent research (https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CC06549E) to ChemComm as well.

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Dr. Shi-Qiang Wang (MRSC) is currently a Scientist at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) under the umbrella of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore. Before moving to IMRE, he served as a Research Fellow (2022.03-2022.10) in the Advanced Porous Materials Group (PI: A/Prof. Dan Zhao) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He completed his PhD (2016.09-2020.06) and continued as a Postdoctoral Researcher (2020.08-2022.03) in the Crystal Engineering Research Group (PI: Prof. Michael Zaworotko) at the University of Limerick (UL), Ireland. He won two “Young Scientist” conference Awards sponsored respectively by the European Crystallographic Association and the International Union of Crystallography in 2018/2019 and the 2020 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad. You can reach out to Shi-Qiang on Twitter: @ShiQiang_SQ, WeChat: sqwang0123, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sqwangchem or his personal website: https://sqwangchem.com/

Explore more ChemComm Milestones news and updates on our Twitter: @ChemCommun