Speaker: Professor Feng Shi

Jiangsu Normal University / Changzhou University

Lecture Details

Time: April 28, 2025, 15:30–17:00

Venue: Lecture Hall, 2nd Floor, Building 6, Zhangjiang Campus

Host: Tenured Professor Chen Zhu

Abstract：

Professor Feng Shi

Professor at Jiangsu Normal University & Distinguished Professor at Changzhou University

Professor Shi received her B.Sc. (1998) and M.Sc. (2004) from Jiangsu Normal University, and earned her Ph.D. (2013) through a joint program between Soochow University and University of Science and Technology of China. She conducted visiting research at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore during 2012-2013. Her honors include the Jiangsu Provincial Distinguished Young Scholar Fund (2016) and the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2021). Her research specializes in chiral indole chemistry, where she has developed innovative indole-based platform molecules and catalytic asymmetric reactions for efficient synthesis of chiral indole compounds. With over 130 corresponding-author publications in journals like Acc. Chem. Res., J. Am. Chem. Soc., and Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., she holds 10+ patents and has been named a Highly Cited Researcher by Elsevier (2020-2024) and Clarivate (2024). Her awards feature the Second Prize of Jiangsu Science and Technology Award, Second Prize of Ministry of Education Natural Science Award, Thieme Chemistry Journal Award, Asian Core Program Lectureship Award, and Xinhecheng-China Chemical Innovation Award. She serves on editorial boards for Chinese Journal of Organic Chemistry, Acta Chimica Sinica, and international journals including Eur. J. Org. Chem., Org. Chem. Front., and J. Org. Chem.

Brief introduction：

Chiral indole compounds have demonstrated tremendous potential in the development of chiral drugs, chiral catalysts, and chiral functional materials. However, the field of chiral indole chemistry has only emerged over the past decade, representing a critically important area in urgent need of advancement. The efficient and highly selective synthesis of chiral indole compounds has thus become a pivotal scientific challenge within this domain.To address this challenge, our team has conducted systematic research focusing on innovative strategies for constructing chiral indole frameworks. We proposed a novel approach by designing and developing new indole-based platform molecules and their participation in catalytic asymmetric reactions, overcoming limitations inherent in traditional indole asymmetric transformation methods. Under this strategic framework, we designed novel indole platform molecules such as indolemethanol, alkenylindoles, and arylindoles, enabling efficient and highly selective construction of new chiral indole scaffolds. We uncovered unique reactivity and selectivity profiles of these indole platforms, elucidated reaction mechanisms and theoretical foundations, and thereby advanced the field of chiral indole chemistry.This presentation will report our latest progress in designing indolemethanol as a platform molecule and its applications in catalytic asymmetric synthesis of chiral indole frameworks.