Zhe Dong obtained his B.S. from College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering at Peking University in 2012 under guidance of Prof Zhi-Xiang Yu. He joint Prof. Guangbin Dong’s group in 2012 at University of Texas at Austin. He moved to Uchicago in 2016 with whole Prof. Guangbin Dong’s group and obtained his PHD degree from the University of Chicago in 2018. Then, he joined the Prof. David MacMillan group at Princeton University since 2018. He joins the Southern University of Science and Technology Chemistry Department in 2021 as a tenure-track associate professor

Dr. Zhe Dong’s PHD work focused on the development of palladium and norbornene catalyzed novel multi-components cross coupling and meta-selective arene C-H bond activation. He developed a practical and novel deoxygenative arylation of alcohols during his postdoc. These works got lots of attention in the synthetic community and get widely adopted by pharmaceutical industry. He published 9 first or corresponding author papers before join SUSTech, with total citation higher than 1500 times. His independent research will focus on the photoredox enabled organoboron chemistry and heterocycle functionalization and applying those synthetic tool into medicinal chemistry and photo-biochemistry to generate real world application.

Zhe Dong received several awards including: Scholarship for Outstanding Self-financed Students Studying Abroad, China Scholarship Council. 2015; Reaxys PhD Prize Finalists. 2017; Yang Cao-Lan-Xian Best Thesis Award, University of Chicago. 2018 and Oversea Young Investigator Award. 2020. 

Representive Publications:

16. Metallaphotoredox-enabled deoxygenative arylation of alcohols.

Zhe Dong, David W.C. Macmillan* Nature 2021, doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03920-6.

15. Compatibility Score for Rational Electrophile Selection in Pd/NBE Cooperative Catalysis.

Xiaotian Qi, Jianchun Wang, Zhe Dong, Guangbin Dong*, Peng Liu* Chem. 2020, 6, 2810.

14. A Mechanistic Analysis of Metallaphotoredox C–N Coupling: Photocatalysis Initiates and Perpetuates Ni(I)/Ni(III) Coupling Activity.

Nicholas A. Till, Lei Tian, Zhe Dong, Gregory Scholes, and David W. C. MacMillan* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 15830.

13. Modular and Regioselective Synthesis of All-Carbon Tetrasubstituted Olefins Enabled by an Alkenyl Catellani Reaction.

Jianchun Wang, Zhe Dong, Cheng Yang, and Guangbin Dong* Nat. Chem. 2019, 11, 1106.

12. Sulfenamide-Enabled Ortho Thiolation of Aryl Iodides via Palladium/Norbornene Cooperative Catalysis.

Renhe Li, Yun Zhou, Ki-Young Yoon, Zhe Dong* and Guangbin Dong* Nat. Commun. 2019, 10, 3555.

11. Palladium/Norbornene-Catalyzed Indenone Synthesis from Simple Aryl Iodides: Concise Syntheses of Pauciflorol F and Acredinone A.

Feipeng, Liu; Zhe, Dong; Jianchun, Wang; Guangbin, Dong.* Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 2144.

10. Complementary Site-Selectivity in Arene Functionalization Enabled by Overcoming the “Ortho Constraint” in the Palladium/Norbornene Catalysis.

Jianchun Wang, Renhe Li, Zhe Dong, Peng Liu and Guangbin Dong* Nat. Chem. 2018, 10, 866.

9. Modular ipso/ortho Difunctionalization of Aryl Bromides via Palladium/Norbornene Cooperative Catalysis.

Zhe Dong, Gang Lu, Jianchun Wang, Peng Liu* and Guangbin Dong* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 8551.

8. Transition metal catalyzed C-H bond alkylation using alkenes.

Zhe Dong, Zhi Ren, Samuel J. Thompson, Yan Xu and Guangbin Dong* Chem. Rev. 2017, 117, 9333.

7. New Directions in Pd/Norbornene-Catalyzed Activation of Arene C–H Bonds

Zhe Dong.* Chem. 2016, 1, 520.

6. Reagent-Enabled Ortho Alkoxycarbonylation of Aryl Iodides via Palladium/Norbornene Catalysis

Jianchun, Wang; Lei, Zhang; Zhe Dong;* Guangbin, Dong.* Chem. 2016, 1, 581.

5. Ortho C−H Acylation of Aryl Iodides by Palladium/Norbornene Catalysis.

Zhe, Dong; Jianchun, Wang; Zhi, Ren; Guangbin, Dong.* Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 12664.

4. Simple Amine-Directed meta-Selective C−H Arylation via Pd/Norbornene Catalysis.

Zhe, Dong; Jianchun, Wang; Guangbin, Dong.* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 5887.

3. Ortho vs Ipso: Site-Selective Pd and Norbornene-Catalyzed Arene C–H Amination Using Aryl Halides.

Zhe Dong and Guangbin Dong.* J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 18350.

2. Gold(I)-Catalyzed endo-Selective Intramolecular α-Alkenylation of β-Yne-Furans: Synthesis of Seven-Membered-Ring-Fused Furans and DFT Calculations.

Zhe Dong, Cheng-Hang Liu, Yi Wang, Mu Lin and Zhi-Xiang Yu.* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 14157.

1. α,β-Divinyl Tetrahydropyrroles as Chiral Chain Diene Ligands in Rhodium(I)-Catalyzed Enantioselective Conjugated Additions.

Qian Li, Zhe Dong, and Zhi-Xiang Yu* Org. Lett., 2011, 13, 1122.