Research Description
1 Green Chemistry
Green solvents: our lab is one of the pioneers in the use of water for organic reactions.
Green synthesis: our lab has developed a broad range of new reactions for Green Chemistry towards organic synthesis that greatly shorten synthetic steps, which include: 1) Grignard-type reactions in water, 2) Aldehyde-Alkyne-Amine coupling (A3-reaction), 3) Cross-Dehydrogenative-Couplings (CDC reaction), and 4) Hydrazone as Organometallic Reagent Equivalent (HOME).
Catalytic conversion of small molecules (methane, CO2, and N2) into high valued products.
Catalytic conversion of biomass (lignin and sugar) into high valued products.

2 Photochemistry
Self-assembling induced light emissions: we developed fluorescence sensors for various metals ions (K+, Na+, Li+, Cs+, Hg+2, Ln+3, Pb+2) via Self-Assembling induced Fluorescence Enhancement (SAFE) in solution.
Light-enabled late-stage functionalization of complex molecules via C-H bond: amino acids, peptides, and pharmaceutical agents.
New photo-catalysts development: we have patented several classes of novel photo-catalysts (late-stage functionalization tool-kit, tunable photo-redox catalyst, universal two-in-one photo-catalyst for transition metals etc).