ZHAO Yu

ZHAO Yu

Professor, Assistant Dean (Graduate Studies)

Personal Web Page

Postdoc., MIT, 2008-2011; Ph.D., Boston college, 2008; B.S., Peking University, 2002.

Contact Information:

Office: S9-13-01E

Tel: (65)-6516-7964

Fax: (65)-6779-1691

Email: zhaoyu@nus.edu.sg

Research

ORCID: 0000-0002-2944-1315
ResearcherID: J-1712-2014

Recognition and Achievements

• Asian Rising Stars Lectureship Award, 18th Asian Chemical Congress, 2019
• Tokyo Chemical Industry-SNIC Industry Award in Synthetic Chemistry, 2018
• Thieme Chemistry Journal Award, 2016
• Faculty Young Scientist Award, NUS, 2015

Research Interests

Research interests of our lab lie in the discovery and development of efficient, selective as well as economical catalytic methods for chemical synthesis, with an emphasis on asymmetric catalysis. Application of the new methods toward the synthesis of molecules with a complex structure and/or useful functions will serve as a testament of the efficacy of the method development. Ultimately, the goal is to provide new chemical tools to bear on contemporary problems in the applied areas such as pharmaceuticals, chemical biology and material science.

Research Highlight

We have established an enantioconvergent access to chiral N-heterocycles directly from simple racemic diols and primary amines, through a highly economical borrowing hydrogen annulation. The identification of a chiral amine-derived iridacycle catalyst was the key for achieving high efficiency and enantioselectivity in the one-step construction of two C-N bonds. This catalytic method enabled a rapid access to a wide range of diversely substituted enantioenriched pyrrolidines including key precursors to valuable drug molecules. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 5007-5016).

Teaching Contributions AY2023/2024

• CM3221 Organic Synthesis: The Disconnection Approach
• CM5225 Asymmetric Catalysis

Representative Publications   

• Ng, X.  et al.  Direct Access to Chiral Aliphatic Amines by Catalytic Enantioconvergent Redox-Neutral Amination of Alcohols. Nat. Synth. 2023, 2, 572.
• Liu, Y. et al.  Iridium-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent Borrowing Hydrogen Annulation of Racemic 1,4-Diols with Amines. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 5007.
• Gao, Y. et al.  Atroposelective Synthesis of 1,1’-Bipyrroles Bearing a Chiral N-N Axis: Chiral Phosphoric Acid Catalysis with Lewis Acid Induced Enantiodivergence. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202200371.
• Liu, Y. et al. Redox-Enabled Direct Stereoconvergent Heteroarylation of Simple Alcohols. Nat. Commun. 2021, 12, 5035.
• Yang, B. et al. Desymmetrization of 1,3-Diones by Catalytic Enantioselective Condensation with Hydrazine. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 4179.
• Yang, L.-C. et al. Stereoselective access to [5.5.0] and [4.4.1] bicyclic compounds through Pd-catalysed divergent higher-order cycloadditions. Nat. Chem. 2020, 12, 860.
• Lu, S. et al. Diastereo- and Atroposelective Synthesis of Bridged Biaryls Bearing an Eight-Membered Lactone through an Organocatalytic Cascade. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 17062.
• Huang, R. et al. Rhodium-Catalyzed Enantioconvergent Isomerization of Homoallylic and Bishomoallylic Secondary Alcohols. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 14647.
• Rong, Z. Q. et al. Nine-Membered Benzofuran-Fused Heterocycles: Enantioselective Synthesis and Rearrangement via Transannular Bond Formation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 15304.
• Huang, Y. et al. Cobalt-Catalyzed Enantioselective Vinylation of Activated Ketones and Imines. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 6571.
• Zhang, Y. et al. Catalytic Enantioselective Amination of Alcohols by the Use of Borrowing Hydrogen Methodology: Cooperative Catalysis by Iridium and a Chiral Phosphoric Acid. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 1399.