Chemistry
Zhuangzhi Shi
Zhuangzhi Shi was born in Rugao, Jiangsu province in October 1983. He is currently a Professor and Director of State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Nanjing University. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemistry and organic chemistry from Yangzhou University in 2005 and 2008. Then he moved to Peking University and completed his Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry. From 2011 to 2014, he was an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow in Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat M？nster (Germany). He was awarded the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2020), Chinese Chemical Society Prize for Young Scientists (2018), Distinguished Young Scholar of Jiangsu Province (2018), Entrepreneurship and Innovation Team Program of Jiangsu Province (2017), Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talent of Jiangsu Province (2016), Specially-Appointed Professor of Jiangsu Province (2014), High-Level Overseas Talents Introduction Plan (2014).
His current research efforts are focused on synthetic methodology, including the activation of inert chemical bonds, radical chemistry, boron chemistry, and asymmetric catalysis. Up to now, he has published more than 60 papers as the corresponding author, including Nature (1), Nat. Catal. (1), Nat. Synth. (1), Chem (3), Sci. Adv. (3), Nat. Commun. (5), J. Am. Chem. Soc. (7), Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (19), Chem Rev. (1), Chem Soc. Rev. (3) and Acc. Chem Res. (1). He is the associate editor of Chinese Chemical Letter and editorial advisory board member for National Science Review, Tetrahedron Chem, Molecules, Green Synthesis and Catalysis, Chemical Research in Chinese Universities .
Precise C-H functionlization of heteroarenes
Efficient cleavage and construction of chemical bonds is the core content of synthetic chemistry. As the most basic and common chemical bond in organic molecules, directly cleavage of C-H bond is undoubtedly the most concise and efficient synthetic way. Given that a complex organic molecule typically contains multiple C-H bonds with subtle difference in activation barrier, controlling the positional selectivity represents the key challenge in this field. At present, the common method is to coordinate the directing group in the molecule with the transition metal (palladium, rhodium, iridium) to achieve the regiocontrol. The use of precious metal catalysts and the residue of heavy metals in drug synthesis have hampered the application of this technology. To solve this issue, Shi and coworkers uncovered a metal-free directed C-H functionalization. Cheap and easily available heteroarenes and boron tribromide reagent can be employed as starting materials to synthesize high-value products in a green, atomic economic and environment-friendly way, breaking the dependence of precious metal catalysts in traditional route. This discovery not only reveals the new catalytic mechanism of C-H functionalization, but also provides a new means for the synthesis of complex organic molecules such as drugs and materials. It also greatly simplifies the reaction conditions, cuts production costs and reduces the environmental pollution. The discovery of metal-free directed C-H functionalization has an important impact on the improvement of relevant chemical theories and the effective solution of the technical bottlenecks in this topic.