Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry Blog

We are delighted to welcome Professor Kenichiro Itami (Nagoya University) and Professor Qi-Lin Zhou (Nankai University) to the Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry Editorial Board.

Ken Itami studied chemistry at Kyoto University and received his PhD in 1998 under the guidance of Prof Yoshihiko Ito. He also had the pleasure to work as a predoctoral researcher in the group of Prof Jan-E Backvall at Uppsala University, Sweden. He began his academic career at Kyoto University as an Assistant Professor (with Prof Jun-ichi Yoshida) and then he moved to Nagoya University to become an Associate Professor (with Prof Ryobi Noyori). In 2008 he was promoted to full professor.

The main emphasis of his research is on the development of new synthetic methods, strategies and concepts to solve challenging synthetic problems. Some of his group’s research projects include new reaction and catalyst for C-H bond transformation, programmed chemical synthesis, biologically active molecules and natural products, optoelectronic materials and nanocarbon materials.

Qi-Lin Zhou received his PhD degree in December 1987 working for Prof. Yao-Zeng Huang. He has also worked with many very well respected chemists such as Prof. Zheng-Hua Zhu at the Institute of Fine Chemicals, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, Professor Klaus Muellen  at the Max-Planck Institute of Polymer Science, Professor Andreas Pfaltz at Basel University in Switzerland and Professor Michael Doyle at Trinity University in Texas. In 1996 he moved back to China as Professor of chemistry at the Institute of Fine Chemicals, East China University of Science and Technology and in 1999 he decided to take another Professorship at the State Key Laboratory of Elemento-organic Chemistry in Nankai University.

His main areas of research focus on the development of new synthetic methods, organometallic chemistry directed towards organic synthesis, asymmetric catalysis and the synthesis of biologically active natural and unnatural products.

From the editorial office and on behalf of the Editorial and Advisory Board we wanted to welcome both of them and wish them an enjoyable time working with us.

We are delighted to announce that Professor Jeff Bode (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) will take position as the Chair of the Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry Editorial Board in January 2011.  The editorial team would like to congratulate Jeff and wish him well in his new role.

Professor Jay Siegel, the current Chair, will retire from his post at the end of 2010. Jay joined the Editorial Board at the journal’s inception in 2003 and became Chair in 2007. In the past 4 years Jay has overseen significant growth in the high quality content published in the journal. The Editorial team would like to thank Jay for all his work on OBC over the past eight years.