Organic Synthesis, Catalysis, and Mechanism
We are an inclusive group of chemists who are passionate about chemical reactivities and organic synthesis. Our research program focuses on developing novel photocatalytic and electrocatalytic chemical reactions to address long-standing challenges in organic synthesis. In particular, we conduct rational catalyst design, mechanism-driven reaction optimization to develop new synthetic methodologies with high efficiency, economy and sustainability.
Group News
August 2025: Welcome to our newest undergraduate students, Aaboli and Kyle!
Congratulations to undergraduate researcher Vincent and Emma for the publication of their work on an electrochemical halogenation of alcohols!
Congratulations to Jill and Kyle for being awarded funding through UROP!
July 2025: Check out Emma’s work on an electrochemical route to aziridines, pyrrolidines and oxazolines in Chemical Science.
June 2025: Welcome to Harrison and Tyler, our summer high school students!
May 2025: Congratulations to Jess, Ellie, Vin and Josie on your graduation! We wish you all the best in your next steps and are so proud of you!
We wish Xuewen the best as she takes the next steps in her career! We will miss you!
Welcome Jill, our newest undergraduate researcher!
Congratulations to Porter for being awarded funding through UROP!
April 2025: Congratulations to Emma for being awarded the University of Utah’s Graduate Research Fellowship!
Congrats to Jess and Vin for being recognized at the Department Awards Ceremony for their many achievements in coursework, research and teaching!
January 2025: Congratulations to Porter for being awarded funding through UROP!
December 2024: Welcome Ellie, our new undergraduate student!
Congratulations to Emma for passing her Proposal exam and advancing to PhD candidate!
September 2024: Welcome to our newest postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Yixiong Lin, and our summer visiting student, Chaoqin Hu!
Check out Qilei’s Chem Preview on photoinduced ground-state charge-transfer complexes.
August 2024: Check out Xuewen and Nate’s work on an electrochemical cyanation of alcohols.
July 2024: Welcome to Dr. Yao Tang, our newest postdoctoral fellow!
Check out Josie and Qilei’s collaboration with Dr. Tian-Ci Wang and Dr. Yang Yang from UCSB on amino acid alkylation.
June 2024: Welcome to our summer high school student, Zoé!
May 2024: Welcome to our new undergraduate student Porter!
Congrats to Qilei for being awarded the ORAU Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award!
April 2024: Congrats to Jess and Vin for being recognized at the Department Awards Ceremony for their many achievements in coursework, research and teaching!
January 2024: Welcome to our newest undergraduate researchers, Jess and Nathan!
December 2023: Welcome to our newest graduate student members Riley, Rachel and Nate! We’re so excited to work with you!
September 2023: Welcome to our first undergraduate student, Vincent!
May 2023: Welcome to our first postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Xuewen Guo! We’re so excited to have you join the group!
December 2022: Welcome to our first graduate students, Emma and Josie!