ChemComm Milestones – Yasutomo Segawa

We are excited to share the success of Yasutomo Segawa’s first-time independent article in ChemComm; “Synthesis of penta- and hexa(3,4-thienylene): size-dependent structural properties of cyclic oligothiophenes” included in the full milestones collection. 

Read our interview with Yasutomo below.

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

Structural organic chemistry. I am always impressed when I synthesize a molecule that no one else in the world has yet see its structure.

Can you set this article in a wider context?

The cyclic thiophene molecules synthesized in this study serve as a platform for the nonplanar polycyclic arenes. This is a major step toward the systematic synthesis of non-planar molecules that are expected to have 3D carrier transport.

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

We will achieve the synthesis of a 3D organic π-conjugated framework. This is the beginning of synthetic organic chemistry that designs 3D electronic structures.

Describe your journey to becoming an independent researcher.

After studying supramolecular chemistry (Prof. Takuzo Aida), organic main-group chemistry (Prof. Makoto Yamashita), and organometallic chemistry (Prof. Kyoko Nozaki) as a student, I spent 10 years at Nagoya University working on structural organic chemistry of non-planar aromatic hydrocarbons with Prof. Kenichiro Itami. Based on these experiences, I started my own chemistry to establish the synthetic organic chemistry that can design not only single molecules but also three-dimensional solid-state structures.

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

“Some red lights are not to be crossed.” (Prof. Kyoko Nozaki)

Why did you choose to publish in ChemComm?

Simply because I like ChemComm. My milestone articles are in ChemComm including my first corresponding author paper in the group of Prof. Kenichiro Itami (2012, 48, 6642), and a memorial paper with Prof. Douglas W. Stephan (2012, 48, 11963). At the beginning of my academic career, I read through the ChemComm journal in 1980s (around the year of my birth) for inspiration of research ideas.​​

Yasutomo Segawa was born in Chiba, Japan (1982). He studied chemistry at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and completed his PhD in 2005 under the supervision of Prof. Kyoko Nozaki. In 2009, he became an Assistant Professor in the group of Prof. Kenichiro Itami at Nagoya University, and in 2013 a Group Leader of the JST-ERATO Itami Molecular Nanocarbon Project (Designated Associate Professor, Nagoya University). Since 2020, he is an Associate Professor (a Principal Investigator) at the Institute for Molecular Science and SOKENDAI, and a research fellow of JST-FOREST since 2022. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of three-dimensional and topologically unique organic systems.

Twitter: @Segawagroup, @YasutomoSegawa

 

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ChemComm Milestones – Ashok Kumar Pandey

We are excited to share the success of Ashok Kumar Pandey’s first-time independent article in ChemComm; “Ru(II)/Ru(IV)-catalyzed C(sp2)–H allylation with alkene difunctionalization to access isochroman-1-imines” included in the full milestones collection. 

Read our interview with Ashok below.

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

Our research team is working in the “Transition Metal Catalysis in Organic Synthesis” research area and developing new methodologies to access biologically relevant organic molecules in both racemic and enantioselective forms.

We are designing new approaches for the efficient synthesis of natural products and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) using ruthenium and nickel catalysts. We are currently focusing on C-H functionalization and cross-coupling strategies to construct diversified organic scaffolds using these metal catalysts. The current pharmaceutical industry’s demand for affordable and sustainable synthetic methods to access APIs and bioactive molecules has motivated us to work on transition metal catalysis.

Can you set this article in a wider context?

In this article, it has been discovered the first time that the Ru(IV)allyl complex formed from [Ru(p-cymene)Cl2]2 and MBH acetate, and transferred its allyl group to the ruthanacycle via a redox process. This new mechanistic finding of Ru(IV)allyl complex in the C-H allylation reaction has greatly enriched the ruthenium catalysis in organic synthesis and the Ru(IV)allyl complex may serve as a new allylating reagent in synthetic chemistry. Additionally, the C-H allylated products have been telescoped into medicinally important isochroman-1-imine in a single operation. The synthesis of a natural product Cytogenin (antibiotic) and its analogues can be accomplished using this isochroman-1-imine in a concise pathway.

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

It has been mentioned in our manuscript that this methodology can provide a short and sustainable synthetic route to design isochrominone-based natural products and bioactive molecules. As a result, it can be possible to synthesize the antibiotic Cytogenin and its analogues in the upcoming years. In this study, we discovered a novel Ru(IV)allyl complex that was difficult to stabilize and isolate. In the coming years, we will put our efforts into stabilizing and derivatizing this Ru(IV)allyl complex so that it can be used as an allylating reagent in synthetic organic chemistry for its practical application.

Describe your journey to becoming an independent researcher.

My research career started as a postgraduate student at the University of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. During my M.Sc., I worked on the preparation of organic compounds via Aldol condensation, Cannizzaro reaction, etc., and their characterization using spectroscopic techniques. My training and skills were primarily developed while pursuing doctoral studies at the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar), India, under the supervision of Prof. Prabal Banerjee. I have worked on the development of new and convenient methodologies to access various carbocyclic and heterocyclic molecules using strained rings e.g. cyclopropane, epoxides, aziridines, etc. under Lewis acid catalysis. After that, I relocated to South Korea for my postdoctoral studies at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) under the guidance of Prof. In Su Kim. At SKKU, I have worked on C-H functionalization reactions using rhodium and ruthenium-based metal catalysts and their mechanistic studies. In addition, I have synthesized numerous organic molecules in a single step that are very suitable for designing of natural products and pharmaceuticals. In summary, all the aforementioned studies and research experiences have skilled and enabled me to work as an independent researcher in the area of “Sustainable Transition Metal Catalysis in Organic Synthesis”.

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

The time of failure is the best season to sow the seeds of success” advice was given by my beloved grandfather in my childhood.

Why did you choose to publish in ChemComm?

Chemical Communication Journal is one of the most renowned journals in chemical science with a broad readership and followers all over the world. Results that have been published in this journal have a good opportunity of being read and noticed by a global research community working in different research areas of chemical science. Our presented article can be helpful in exploring ruthenium chemistry in a new direction that can benefit the chemical industries. These unique features of ChemComm have motivated me to publish our work in this prestigious journal.

​​

  Dr. Ashok Kumar Pandey is currently working as a scientist and assistant professor in the Fluoro-Agrochemical division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology Hyderabad (CSIR-IICT Hyderabad) under the umbrella of “Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)” New Delhi, India. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), South Korea, before joining CSIR-IICT Hyderabad. He received a Ph.D. degree in 2016 from the Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar), India. He has received several awards for research in India viz. “Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)” and “Senior Research Fellowship (SRF)” from CSIR, New Delhi, “International Travel Support (ITS)” and “National Postdoctoral Fellowship (NPDF)” from Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), New Delhi. Recently, SERB has awarded him with a “Start-up Research Grant (SRG)” to support his independent research career at CSIR-IICT Hyderabad. His current research interest is focused on the development of new sustainable methodologies to access biologically relevant molecules using ruthenium and nickel-based transition metal catalysts and their application in the synthesis of natural products, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals.

Webpage: https://www.iict.res.in/People/view?id=570

Twitter: @akpandey_lab

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-ashok-pandey-79672b35/

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Nanocatalysis: A Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale, and ChemComm Collection

Nanocatalysis

A collection of recent articles in Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale and ChemComm

Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale and ChemComm are pleased to present a collection highlighting some of the latest nanocatalysis research published in the journals.

 

 

Check out this selection of articles from the collection, with many more available online.

Synthesis of monodisperse high entropy alloy nanocatalysts from core@shell nanoparticles
Yifan Chen, Xun Zhan, Sandra L. A. Bueno, Ibrahim H. Shafei, Hannah M. Ashberry, Kaustav Chatterjee, Lin Xu, Yawen Tang and Sara E. Skrabalak
Nanoscale Horizons, 2021, DOI: 10.1039/D0NH00656D

Synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles-enzyme-polymer conjugate hybrids as dual-activity catalysts for chemoenzymatic cascade reactions (Open Access)
Janne M. Naapuri, Noelia Losada-Garcia, Jan Deska, Jose M. Palomo
Nanoscale, 2022, DOI: 10.1039/D2NR00361A

 

We hope you enjoy reading this special collection and will consider Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale, and ChemComm for your future submissions!

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ChemComm Milestones – Naoyuki Shimada

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 catalysisincluded 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.

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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Josep Cornella: Winner of the ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2022/23!

On behalf of the ChemComm Editorial Board, we are pleased to announce the winner of the 2022/23 ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship – Josep Cornella! Our warmest congratulations to Josep!
 
Josep Cornella join recent past winners  Keary Engle (2021), Thomas Bennett (2021) and Bill Morandi (2020). Learn more about Josep below.

Josep Cornella (Pep) is a Max Planck Group Leader in the Department of Organometallic Chemistry at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany. He received  his PhD in 2012 from Queen Mary University of London, where he worked with  Prof. Igor Larrosa on the use of aromatic carboxylic acids as aryl donors in metal-catalyzed decarboxylative reactions. He then moved back to Catalunya as a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. Ruben Martin (ICIQ) and further received a Beatriu de Pinós Fellowship in 2015 to carry out further postdoctoral studies in the group of Prof. Phil S. Baran at The Scripps Research Institute, California, USA.

He joined Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in spring 2017 and in summer of the same year, he obtained a Max Planck Research Group Leader (MPRGL) position in the same Institute to create and lead the Sustainable Catalysis Laboratory. His research group interests span from the invention of new catalytic transformations to the design of novel catalysts to uncover previously unknown pathways. You can learn more about Josep’s group and his research on Twitter @CornellaLab

As part of the Lectureship award, Josep will be presenting lectures over the coming 12 months. Details of the lectures will be announced in due course but keep an eye on Twitter @ChemCommun for details!

 

Highly Commended Nominations

Each year, a large number of excellent researchers gets nominated for the ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship award. Due to the extremely high standard of nominations this year, we have decided to select a number of Highly Commended candidates, who the Editorial Board highlighted as performing exceptional science and deserving of recognition in the community.

 

 

Shoubhik Das received his PhD from the group of Prof. Matthias Beller in the Leibniz Institute of Catalysis (LIKAT), Germany. After finishing his PhD, he joined the group of Prof. Matthew Gaunt at the University of Cambridge for postdoctoral fellowship’ followed by working with Prof. Paul Dyson in EPFL, Switzerland. In August 2015 he received the ‘Liebig Fellowship’ to start his independent research career at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Followed by this, he accepted the Assistant Professor position in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Antwerp, Belgium in November 2019. In August 2023, he will be joining as the full professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

Follow Shoubhik’s research on Twitter @shoubhikdas4

 

 

 

Ellen Matson obtained her PhD from Purdue University under the supervision of Prof. Suzanne C. Bart studying the synthesis of low-valent uranium alkyl complexes. Subsequently, Ellen performed postdoctoral research with Prof. Alison R. Fout at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.  Ellen began her independent career at the University of Rochester in 2015; the Matson Laboratory studies the synthesis and reactivity of metal chalcogenide clusters as model systems for surfaces and redox active metalloligands. Ellen has received multiple awards recognizing her research accomplishments as an independent investigator; these include a Sloan Research Fellowship (2019), a Cottrell Award (2019), and the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2020). Most recently, Ellen was named the Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry (2022).

Follow Ellen’s research on Twitter @MatsonLab

 

 

 

Sophie Rousseaux obtained her PhD from University of Ottawa working with Prof. Keith Fagnou on Pd-catalyzed aliphatic C–H bond functionalization reactions. In 2010, she moved to MIT to complete her graduate research with Prof. Stephen L. Buchwald. She was a NSERC postdoctoral fellow and Glasstone Research Fellow at University of Oxford from 2012–2015, where she worked with Prof. Harry L. Anderson. Sophie joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto in 2015 where she currently is an Associate Professor and also holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Organic Chemistry since 2016. Her group’s research interests include organic synthesis, catalysis, and organometallic chemistry, with a particular focus on the synthesis of small rings and nitrile-containing molecules. Her group’s work has been recognized by several awards including the CSC Keith Fagnou Award (2023), the McLean Research Fellowship (2022), the Organic Letters Outstanding Publication of the Year Lectureship (2022), a Sloan Research Fellowship (2021), an Ontario Early Researcher Award (2021), and the Dorothy Shoichet Women Faculty Science Award of Excellence (2020).

Follow Sophie’s research at @RousseauxGroup or her department’s Twitter handle @chemuoft

Keep up-to-date with our latest journal news on Twitter @ChemCommun or via our blog! Learn more about ChemComm online!

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ChemComm Milestones – Weijin Li

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.

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

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ChemComm Milestones – Zhen Jiang

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.

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

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ChemComm Milestones – Dinesh Shetty

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.

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

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Celebrating 10 years of ChemComm Emerging Investigators

We recently celebrated 10 years of ChemComm‘s Emerging Investigators collection. Begun in 2011, this annual collection showcases high quality research being carried out by international researchers in the early stages of their independent careers. After 10 years, we continue to be overwhelmed by the community’s positive response to this collection and look forward to continuing to champion researchers at the early stages of their careers and beyond.

 

To mark the 10 year anniversary, we recently published an anniversary collection featuring new work from contributors to the early Emerging Investigator collections. We hope you will enjoy reading these articles marking this special occasion.

 

ChemComm is proud to support researchers at all stages of their careers. Whether you’re a first-time author or a senior academic, you can trust us to handle your submission fairly and efficiently.

 

We’d like to thank all contributors to our Emerging Investigators collections throughout the years, and hope that you will join us in celebrating their successes!

 

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ChemComm Milestones – Kourosh Ebrahimi

We are excited to share the success of Kourosh Ebrahimi’s first-time independent article in ChemComm; “VITAS, a sensitive in vivo selection assay to discover enzymes producing antiviral natural productsincluded in the full milestones collection. 

Read our interview with Kourosh below.

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

My lab research areas include Bioinorganic Immunology and Drug Discovery. We elucidate the function of metalloenzymes and iron-sulfur [FeS] clusters, one of the oldest bioinorganic cofactors of life, and [FeS] containing proteins in the immune response. We use the outcome of our work to design and engineer biological systems for synthesizing and developing novel therapeutics. We apply a multidisciplinary approach combining protein engineering, biochemical and biophysical techniques, molecular biology, and cell biological methods.

Can you set this article in a wider context?

The idea of the VITAS assay described in the article initially came to me in 2017, and I included the idea in an ERC starting grant. The available assays to discover enzymes producing antiviral natural products (NPs) are multi-step with a high risk of failure at each step: (i) Identification and selection of desired enzymes among the unlimited natural library of enzymes, which is a random process. (ii) Expression and purification of a functional enzyme, which is not straightforward, especially in the case of oxygen-sensitive [FeS] proteins. (iii) Identification and discovery of the correct substrates of enzymes and the NPs they produce. (iv) Purifying the NPs and confirming the antiviral activity using biochemical or cell-based assays. Consequently, the discovery of new antiviral enzymes and NPs is practically a random process with a very high risk of failure.

We developed VITAS (the Latin word for leaving), an in vivo selection assay for identifying enzymes producing antiviral lead NPs to solve the challenge. The assay is based on a simple concept: a commonly used bacterium in the lab, namely E. coli, should die if an antiviral enzyme is absent inside the cells. We engineered the bacterium so that it generates a toxin protein in the absence of an antiviral enzyme. This live/dead assay will enable us to rapidly screen many enzymes among the repository of natural proteins and a library of variants generated using protein engineering. When the assay is coupled with other methods like liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, we can identify and discover novel antiviral lead NPs produced by enzymes.

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

In the coming years, we hope to decode the molecular mechanism underlying the activity of a conserved antiviral response, discover new antiviral molecules, and design and create revolutionary approaches to antiviral therapeutics. This work is a milestone in our path to achieving our goals.

Describe your journey to becoming an independent researcher.

My journey has been unique. I did my Bachelor’s studies in Chemical Engineering, Petroleum Process Design. After my graduation, an unexpected and sudden accident changed everything. Because of that event, I decided to continue my studies in Biochemistry to understand the molecular mechanism of diseases like cancer. Yet, my first stop was working in the industry to help support my career ambitions. After five years, I found the opportunity to start my M.Sc. and, subsequently, PhD studies, both under the supervision of Prof Wilfred Hagen, TU Delft. I developed a passion for fundamental science and the mechanism of function of metalloenzymes. After my PhD, I did a one-year Postdoc in Virology at the Scripps Research Institute, Florida, USA, with Prof Michael Farzan. I returned to TU Delft and received a two-year fellowship from the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) to move to the University of Oxford. I joined the group of Prof Frazer Armstrong. I initiated multiple collaborations with various groups across the University, including with Prof William James (Sir William Dunn School of Pathology) and Prof James McCullagh (Department of Chemistry). With their support, I developed my research niche at the interface of Bioinorganic Chemistry and Immunology/Virology. After six years working at Oxford, in October 2021, I joined the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at King’s College London to start my independent career and establish my research group.

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

A good scientist does everything possible to disprove their theories.

Why did you choose to publish in ChemComm?

After finalizing the draft of our manuscript, I was looking for a possible venue among highly respected journals in the field. While visiting the Chemical Communications website, I came across the Journal collection ‘ChemComm Milestones – First Independent Articles’. I was excited to see the support and recognition the Journal provides new investigators. I decided to submit our article to Chemical Communications without any second thought.

  I was born (on 26th December 1979) in Kerman, a small city near a desert in the south of Iran. After finishing my Bachelor’s studies, I worked in the petrochemical industry for five years. Subsequently, I received a scholarship from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), the Netherlands, and did my M.Sc. and later PhD studies there. My PhD was followed by a postdoc at the Scripps Research Institute and then one at TU Delft. I received an EMBO fellowship and moved to Oxford at the end of 2015. In October 2021, I joined the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science at King’s College London as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Immunology and Drug Discovery.

 

Social Handles: @Kouroshhe; @FeSImmChemNet; @kingsmedicine

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