Shaofei Zhang

New publication

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Our paper on a large expansion of the Friedel-Crafts reaction has been accepted for publication in Chem. We describe Friedel-Crafts reactions with primary aliphatic alcohols and electronically deactivated epoxides, as well as sequential Friedel-Crafts reactions stemming from epoxide-opening, all without pre-activation. This was a massive project with over 170 examples, some of it reaching back nearly 4 years. Congrats to Shaofei, Marie, Florent, Vuk and Andrei and to our DFT collaborators in the Rowley lab (Carleton).

Dr. Shaofei Zhang

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Congrats to Shaofei Zhang on successfully defending his thesis! He is the ninth PhD student to graduate from the group. Special thanks to jury members Prof. Abder Amgoune (Lyon), Prof. Tanja Gulder (Leipzig, via Zoom), and Dr. Morgan Donnard (Strasbourg) for being part of the jury, which was done partly in person and partly over Zoom. Best of luck in your return to China and in your next role!

New publication

moranlab

Shaofei’s article on the surprising mechanism of boronic acid catalyzed reactions of alcohols and oximes has been published in Chemistry – A European Journal. Congrats!

Paul, Florent and Shaofei join the group

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The fourth incoming class of PhD students joins the group. Paul Chatelain (MRT fellowship) returned this October to continue his MSc work on protometabolism. Florent Noel (Région Alsace fellowship) and Shaofei Zhang (CSC fellowship) arrived in November to initiate a new project on directed Brønsted acid catalysis. A warm welcome to all three!