KE, Zhihai
Assistant Professor

Education Background
PhD (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
B.Sc (Sun Yat-sen University)
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Research Field
Synthetic Organic Chemistry; Methodologies; Organocatalysis; Green Chemistry
Email
kezhihai@cuhk.edu.cn
Biography
Ke received his PhD degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2012. From 2012 to 2015, he was engaged in post-doctoral research in National University of Singapore. In August 2015, he returned to The Chinese University of Hong Kong as an assistant professor (research). As a PI, he has secured 3 Hong Kong Research Grants Council General Research Funds (GRF). He joined School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) as an assistant professor in August 2020.
Ke’s research interests include: organocatalysis, strained ring opening, new Lewis acid/base, asymmetric synthesis, etc. He has published more than 30 SCI papers, of which, as the first/corresponding author, he has published more than 20 papers in peer-reviewed international journals such as J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., ACS Catal., Green Chem., Org. Lett., Adv. Synth. Catal. Some of the methodologies has been highlighted and applied by international colleagues.

Academic Publications
Publications (2018-present):
Applications of Selenonium Cations as Lewis Acids in Organocatalytic Reactions, X. He, X. Wang, Y.-L. Tse, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 12869–12873. (Highlighted in Synfact October 2018)
Lewis Base-Promoted Ring-Opening 1,3-Dioxygenation of Unactivated Cyclopropanes using Hypervalent Iodine Reagent, M. H. Gieuw, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 3782–3786. (Highlighted in Org. Chem. Highlights, March 18^th, 2019)
Desymmetrizing Enantio- and Diastereoselective Selenoetherification through Supramolecular Catalysis, J. Y. See, H. Yang, Y. Zhao, M. W. Wong, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* ACS Catal. 2018, 8, 850–858. (Highlighted in Synfact March 2018)
Environmentally Benign Indole-Catalyzed Position-Selective Halogenation of Thioarenes and Other Aromatics, Y. Shi, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Green Chem. 2018, 20, 4448–4452.
Electrophilic Bromolactonization of Cyclopropyl Diesters Using Lewis Basic Chalcogenide Catalysts, M. H. Gieuw, V. M. Y. Leung, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Adv. Synth. Catal. 2018, 360, 4306–4311.
Indole-Catalyzed Bromolactonization: Preparation of Bromolactone in Lipophilic Media, Z. Ke*, T. Chen, Y.-Y. Yeung* Org. Synth. 2018, 95, 256–266.
Lipophilic Indole-Catalyzed Intermolecular Bromoesterification of Olefins in Nonpolar Media, Y. Shi, J. Wong, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* J. Org. Chem. 2019, 84, 4017–4024.
Unearthing the Mechanism of Umpolung Amide Synthesis, Z. Ke, Y.-Y. Yeung* Chem 2019, 5, 1014–1016.
Intermolecular Electrophilic Bromoesterification and Bromoetherification of Unactivated Cyclopropanes,V. M. Y. Leung, M. H. Gieuw, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Adv. Synth. Catal. 2020, 362, 2039–2044.
Lipophilic indole mediated chemoselective α-monobromination of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds,?J. Wong,?Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung*?Tetrahedron. Lett.?2020,?61,?151772.
Zwitterion-Catalyzed Deacylative Dihalogenation of?b-Oxo Amides,?Z. Ke*, Y.-P. Lam, K.-S. Chan,?Y.-Y.?Yeung*?Org.?Lett.?2020,?22, 7353–7357.?
Lewis Base Catalyzed Dioxygenation of Olefins with Hypervalent Iodine Reagents, L. Pan, Z. Ke*, Y. -Y. Yeung* Org. Lett. 2021, 23, in press. DOI:10.1021/acs.orglett.1c02872
Bis-selenonium Cations as Bidentate Chalcogen Bond Donors in Catalysis, X. He, X. Wang, Y. -L. Tse*, Z. Ke*, Y. -Y. Yeung* ACS Catal. 2021, 11, 12632-12642.
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Book Chapters:
Furans and Their Benzo Derivatives: Applications, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Reference Module in Chemistry, Molecular Sciences and Chemical Engineering, Elsevier: Oxford, 2019, in press. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-409547-2.14770-5
Five-Membered Ring Systems: Furans and Benzofurans, Z. Ke^?, G. C. Tsui^?, X.-S. Peng^?, Y.-Y. Yeung^? Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Edited by G. W. Gribble & J. A. Joule; Elsevier: Boston, 2018, 30, 169–195.
Five-Membered Ring Systems: Furans and Benzofurans, Z. Ke^?, G. C. Tsui^?, X.-S. Peng^?, Y.-Y. Yeung^? Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Edited by G. W. Gribble & J. A. Joule; Elsevier: Boston, 2017, 29, 239–275.
Five-Membered Ring Systems: Furans and Benzofurans, Z. Ke^?, G. C. Tsui^?, X.-S. Peng^?, Y.-Y. Yeung^? Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Edited by G. W. Gribble & J. A. Joule; Elsevier: Boston, 2016, 28, 219–274.
Five-membered ring systems: furans and benzofurans, Z. Ke^?, Y.-Y. Yeung^?, G. C. Tsui^?, X.-S. Peng^? Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Edited by G. W. Gribble & J. A. Joule; Elsevier: Boston, 2015, 27, 203–246.
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