Research

Department of Chemistry · SUSTech

Chirality is a fundamental property of nature, and chiral compounds are closely related to our lives—more than half of clinical drugs are chiral. Our group focuses on axially chiral chemistry, developing organocatalytic asymmetric transformations to efficiently access chiral compounds. Through the systematic construction of privileged axially chiral skeletons and the development of new arene chemistry, we establish efficient routes to novel chiral functional molecules and drug candidates.

Chirality: A Fundamental Property of Nature

Chirality refers to the non-superimposability of an object with its mirror image, a pervasive phenomenon in nature with far-reaching implications for human health, chemical industry, life sciences and materials science. Over half of clinical drugs are chiral drugs. A famous case is the thalidomide tragedy: (R)-thalidomide has sedative effects while (S)-thalidomide causes teratogenicity. Our group focuses on the construction of privileged chiral skeletons—the core scientific problem of this field.

Overview: Axially Chiral Chemistry

Axially chiral compounds, whose chirality originates from the highly sterically hindered rotation along a chiral axis, are widespread in biologically active compounds and serve as valuable chiral ligands in asymmetric catalysis. Our group focuses on axial chirality chemistry, systematically developing privileged skeleton construction, novel arene chemistry, and new organocatalytic asymmetric transformations.

Systematic Construction and Application of Axial Chirality

Three synergistic modules: developing novel arene chemistry, creating new axially chiral skeletons, and expanding asymmetric catalysis applications. Our systematic studies have been published as research accounts in Accounts of Chemical Research (2018, 51, 534; 2022, 55, 2920).

Systematic Construction and Development of Axially Chiral Skeletons

Privileged skeletons: NOBIN, BINAM, aryl-naphthols/amines, N-aryl pyrroles, QUINOL N-oxides, QUINAP, etc. Novel skeletons: catalytic asymmetric construction of new axial chirality based on aryl-alkenes, 1,3-dienes, cyclohexadienes, and aryl-boron frameworks.