Research Overview
While homogeneous catalysis has enabled a wide range of powerful organic transformations, longstanding limitations such as high catalyst loadings and poor recyclability continue to constrain its broader synthetic utility. Addressing these challenges presents a compelling opportunity for the development of next-generation catalytic systems. Our interdisciplinary research program operates at the intersection of organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and materials science, with the goal of designing and synthesizing novel framework- and nanocluster-based heterogeneous catalysts for sustainable organic synthesis and energy conversion. A central theme of our work is the precise incorporation of metal catalytic centers into organic linkers and inorganic nodes within framework supports, as well as into the interfacial layers of atomically precise metal nanoclusters, to enhance both catalytic reactivity and long-term stability. By leveraging diverse heterogenization strategies, we modulate the photophysical properties of transition-metal species and tailor the coordination environments of active sites, thereby enabling a wide range of electron-transfer- and energy-transfer-driven transformations. In parallel, site isolation within framework and cluster matrices suppresses metal aggregation pathways, leading to markedly improved catalyst durability. Our platforms also provide unique opportunities to control charge and energy flow in ways that are often difficult to achieve in homogeneous systems. Enhanced electronic communication among substrates, organic linkers, and embedded metal centers promotes the efficient generation of radical intermediates, while optimized metal-to-metal and metal-to-ligand charge-transfer pathways in atomically precise nanoclusters broaden light absorption and enable efficient photocatalysis under visible and near-infrared irradiation. Guided by these design principles, we have developed framework-supported photocatalysts and cluster-based nanocatalysts that have expanded the synthetic toolbox and advanced the broader fields of heterogeneous catalysis, photochemistry, crystalline functional materials, and sustainable chemical synthesis.
direction 1
Development of framework-supported transition-metal catalysts with enhanced reactivity and recyclability.
direction 2
Development of highly efficient heterogeneous photoredox catalysts based on photoactive organic linkers.
direction 3
Development of novel atomically precise metal nanoclusters for catalytic applications.