Research in our group  focus on the general areas of reaction development and chemical synthesis. Our studies are driven by the

discovery of new and useful catalysts. By virtue of the developed organic reactions various organic ligands  are synthesized and

used as probes in biological progress. Brief summaries of three research directions illustrating these objectives are shown below.

The preparation and catalytic application of heterogeneous catalysts:

Various metal and metal oxide NPs are prepared and used in organic reactions as heterogeneous catalysts. Natural  templates

and artificial templates can be used to regulate the size, shape and catalytic activity of NPs. Our investigations focus on these

areas:

(1) the effect of the supporting environment of natural templates or artificial templates on the reaction activity and selectivity.

(2) the effects of the size and shape of NPs on the reaction activity and selectivity.

                 Chem. Commun., 2010, 46, 5244–5246

Tridentate ligand-metal complexes catalyzed asymmetric reactions:

Amino acids and their derivatives have constituted one of the most popular chiral sources for asymmetric catalysis, since they are readily available and could afford an array of structurally related compounds to facilitate tuning of both rates and selectivities in catalysis.

   Tridentate ligands (ONO-ligands) derived from amino alcohols with 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde derivatives have been shown to be a class of promising ligand for many asymmetric reactions. Our efforts are focused on the development of new tridentate ligand-metal complexes with robust reactivity and novel activation modes.And these complexes may be used under very mild reaction conditions, such as in water.