De-Wei Gao
Graphical Abstract
“The most exciting thing about my research is that students can achieve 99 % yield and 99 % ee … If I were stranded on a desert island and could have only one book, I would choose Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Guanzhong Luo, since it is very entertaining.” Find out more about De-Wei Gao in his Introducing … Profile.
De-Wei Gao
The author presented on this page has published his first article as a submitting corresponding author in Angewandte Chemie:
“Ir-Catalyzed Enantioselective Synthesis of gem-Diborylalkenes Enabled by 1,2-Boron Shift”: J.-F. Ge, X.-Z. Zou, X.-R. Liu, C.-L. Ji, X.-Y. Zhu, D.-W. Gao, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, e202307447.
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Position, Location:
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Assistant Professor, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai (China)
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Homepage:
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ORCID:
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Education:
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2007–2011 B.E. in Chemical Engineering, Northeast Forestry University (China)
2011–2016 Ph.D. with Prof. Shu-Li You, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)
2016–2018 Postdoc with Prof. Keary M. Engle, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla (USA)
2018–2020 Postdoc with Prof. Yi Tang, University of California, Los Angeles (USA)
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Research:
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Boron chemistry, asymmetric catalysis, medicinal chemistry
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Hobbies:
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Running, watching movies
I chose chemistry as a career because I was not admitted to my desired major for the college entrance examination.
A key experience in my education/career was learning the significance of persistence.
The most amusing chemistry adventure in my career was attempting biosynthesis during my postdoctoral studies.
The most exciting thing about my research is that students can achieve 99 % yield and 99 % ee.
Chemistry/science is fun because you never know what you will discover the next day.
In five years, I hope to be a supportive supervisor who can effectively fulfill the roles of both a mentor and a friend to my students.
The biggest challenge facing my generation of scientists is the excessive time spent on non-scientific aspects while conducting research.
I recharge my batteries by watching costume dramas.
If I were not a scientist, I would be a carpenter.
In a spare hour, I play with my son and cherish the precious time we have together.
My favorite time of day is in the morning when I engage in discussions with my students.
If I won a million dollars in the lottery I would use it to support my research group, so that I wouldn't need to apply for funding.
I celebrate success by sharing the joy with my students.
My favorite way to spend a holiday is by going on a trip with my family.
If I were stranded on a desert island and could have only one book, I would choose Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Guanzhong Luo, since it is very entertaining.
Behind the Science
We are interested in asymmetric coupling reactions mediated by a 1,n-heteroatom shift. In the early stage of our research, moderate enantioselectivity was observed in the migratory coupling reaction mediated by a 1,2-boron shift. Upon careful analysis of the reaction mechanism, we hypothesized the isomerization of the IrIII(π-allyl) intermediate is relatively slow at room temperature. To address this issue, we proposed to accelerate the rate of π-σ-π isomerization of this intermediate by conducting the reaction at elevated temperature. Through this strategy, an efficient dynamic kinetic resolution reaction was successfully achieved, enabling access to highly valuable enantioenriched gem-diborylalkenes with quaternary centers.
