WONG, Nai Ching Henry
Distinguished Presidential Chair Professor

Education Background
1973: B.Sc. (1^st Class Honors), The Chinese University of Hong Kong
1976: Ph.D., University College London
1994: D.Sc., University of London
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Research Field
Syntheses of natural and non-natural molecules
Personal Website
https://chem.cuhk.edu.hk/people/academic-staff/wnc/
Email
hncwong@cuhk.edu.cn
Biography
Henry N.C. Wong obtained his B.Sc. degree with first class honors from CUHK in 1973 and was subsequently awarded a Shell Scholarship for Postgraduate Studies in the United Kingdom. He furthered his studies at University College London where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1976. After two postdoctoral research years at Harvard University, Henry Wong returned to University College London to begin his independent research undertaking as Ramsay Memorial Fellow. From 1980 to 1982, Henry Wong did research at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences. He returned to CUHK in 1983 and was the Chairman of the Department of Chemistry from 1995 to 1997. Henry Wong was Head of New Asia College in 2002-2010 and 2014-2020, Chairman of the Research Committee in 2004-2013, Chairman of the Academic Equipment Grants Committee in 2006-2013, Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Vice President for Research in 2009-2013. He was Dean of Science from 2012-2018. He is now Emeritus Professor of Chemistry and also Research Professor of CUHK. Henry Wong is currently also Chairman of the Management Committee, Shanghai-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory in Chemical Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Distinguished Long-term Visiting Professor of Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, and honorary professor and guest professor of many tertiary institutions on the Chinese mainland.
The research interests of Henry Wong are concerned with the syntheses and studies of natural and non-natural molecules. He has served on the editorial boards of several international and national journals. He has been invited to present in over 80 invited and plenary talks in national as well as international conferences and symposia, and has published over 265 research articles, reviews and book chapters.
Henry Wong won the 2nd Class State Natural Science Award of China in 1997. He was a Croucher Senior Research Fellow in 1999-2000 and was elected to The Chinese Academy of Sciences, The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) (formerly known as The Third World Academy of Sciences) and The Hong Kong Academy of Sciences in 1999, 2004 and 2015, respectively.
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Academic Publications
1. C.-K. Hau, S.S.-Y. Chui, W. Lu, C.-M. Che, P.-S. Cheng, T.C.W. Mak, Q. Miao, and?H.N.C. Wong: “Thermotropic Liquid Crystals based on 1,8,9,16-Tetrasubstituted Tetraphenylenes and Their Structure-Property Relationship Studies”.?Chem. Sci., pp 1068-1075 (2011).
2.?X.-S. Xu, Z.-W. Li, Y.-J. Zhang, X.-S. Peng, and?H.N.C. Wong: “Total Synthesis of (±)-Pallambins C and D”.?Chem. Commun., Vol. 48, pp 8517-8519 (2012).
3.?C. Cheng, Z. Cai, X.-S. Peng, and?H.N.C. Wong: “Enantiomeric Recognition of Amino Acid Salts by Macrocyclic Crown Ethers Derived from Enantiomerically Pure 1,8,9,16-Tetrahydroxytetraphenylenes”.?J. Org. Chem., Vol. 78, pp 8562-8578 (2013).
4.?X.-D. Xiong, C.-L. Deng, Z. Li,? X.-S. Peng, and?H.N.C. Wong: “Quasi-planar Diazadithio and Diazadiseleno [8] circulenes: Synthesis, Structures and Properties”.?Org. Chem. Front, Vol. 4, pp 682-687 (2017).
5.?X. L. Lu, M.-Y. ; Lyu, X.-S. Peng, and?H.N.C. Wong: “Gold(I)-catalyzed Tandem Cycloisomerization of 1,5-enyne Ethers via Hydride Transfer”.?Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Vol. 57, pp 11365-11368 (2018).
6.?Z. Zhong, Z.-Y. Wang, S.-F. Ni, L. Dang, H.-K. Lee, X.-S. Peng, and?H.N.C. Wong: “Ligand-free Iron-catalyzed Carbon(sp²)-Carbon(sp²) Oxidative Homo-coupling of Alkenylllithiums”.?Org. Lett., Vol. 21, pp 700-704 (2019).
7.?X.-L. Lu, M. Shannon, X.-S. Peng, and , and?H.N.C. Wong: “Stereospecific Iron-catalyzed Carbon(sp²)-Carbon(sp²) Cross-coupling with Alkyllithium and Alkenyl Iodides”.?Chem. Asian J., Vol. 10, pp 2342-2346 (2019).
8.?A. Mirzaei, X.-S. Peng, and and?H.N.C. Wong: “PtCl₂-catalyzed Cycloisomerization of 1,8-Enynes: Synthesis of Tetrahydropyridine Species”.?Org. Lett.,?Vol. 21, pp 3795-3798 (2019)
9.?Y.-G. Zhou, H.N.C. Wong, and X.-S. Peng: “Total Synthesis of (–)-Deoxoapodine, (–)-Kopsifoline D, and (–)-Beninine”.?J. Org. Chem., Vol. 85, pp 967-976 (2020)
10.?M.-Y. Lyu, Z. Zhong, V.K.-Y. Lo, H.N.C. Wong, and X.-S. Peng: “Total Synthesis of Cryptotrione”.?Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.,?Vol. 59, pp 19929-19933 (2020).