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Stretching the limits in building molecules/destroying molecules/creating game-changing molecules.
There has been a wealth of knowledge surrounding the development of methods for molecular construction. In the case of organic compounds, important methods to build molecules involve the creation of a link between two carbon atoms, otherwise known as carbon-carbon bond formation. For example, cross-coupling methodology, which was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is a fantastic reaction that allows scientists to link a variety of organic molecules together. We plan to expand this coupling method further, and aim to develop catalysts and reactions that can forge new molecular entities at will.
As we are in the business of making molecules, forming and breaking bonds are like two sides of the same coin: the construction of molecules with the desired architecture necessitates the ability to break specific bonds at will. We aim to break stable carbon-carbon bonds in order to create new bonds, and we will strive to design efficient catalysts to accelerate this process.
The catalysts that we develop will be used on a group of molecules whose functions have already been accepted by the global community, such as pharmaceutical candidates and natural products. Furthermore, we will challenge ourselves in the creation of novel molecules with unknown function, as well as the determination of their function―with the ultimate goal of being able to build molecules with completely new structures and functions.
B. Eng. Tokyo University of Science (2002); Ph.D, Tokyo University of Science (2007); Research Associate, The Scripps Research Institute (2007-2008); Assistant Professor, Nagoya University (2008-2012); Associate Professor, Nagoya University (2012-2016); Associate Professor, Waseda University (2016-2018); Professor (2018-) Teijin Pharma Award in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2009); The Chemical Society of Japan Lecture Award for Young Chemists (2011); The Chemical Society of Japan Award for Distinguished Young Chemists (2013); Japan Union of Chemical Science and Technology Chemistry Communication Award (2013); Banyu Chemist Award (2013); Thieme Chemistry Journal Award (2014); Asian Core Lectureship Award, China and Thailand (2014); The Young Scientists’ Prize from MEXT (2017);
FACS Distinguished Young Chemist Award (2017);NISTEP award 2017 (2017); The Chemical Society of Japan Award for Merits for Chemical Education for 2017 (2018)
