Dr. Chen’s research interest includes the topics of late-transition-metal catalysis, asymmetric synthesis and catalysis, and heterocyclic chemistry. The late-transition-metal catalysis topic plays a significant role in Chen research group. His group is particularly interested in group 9 to 11 transition metals, especially Rh, Pd, Pt and Au. Developing new efficient chemical transformations using these late-transition-metal catalysts is currently one of the group’s major objectives. The late-transition-metal catalyzed asymmetric synthesis is another important research topic in Chen group. The group focuses on designing and preparing new ligands with axial chirality or facial chirality for efficient and highly stereoselective chemical reactions catalyzed by late-transition-metals. The synthetic methodologies developed in Chen group will be employed as the key steps in the synthesis of biologically interesting and pharmaceutically important molecules.
