About the Research
Research Theme
Asymmetric Brønsted acid/Lewis acid catalysis
Keyword
Organocatalysis, DFT Calculations, Catalyst Design
Research Outline
Please see my CV.
Representative Research Achievements
- Controlling Pyramidal Nitrogen Chirality by Asymmetric Organocatalysis
S. Wu#, P. Chen#, M. Duan#, P. Y. Jiang, Q. Zhou, S. H. Xiang, K. N. Houk, B. Tan, Nature, 2025, 647, 897-905 (co-first author)
DOI : 10.1038/s41586-025-09607-6 - Why •CF2H is Nucleophilic But •CF3 is Electrophilic in Reactions with Heterocycles
M. Duan, Q. Shao, Q. Zhou, P. S. Baran, K. N. Houk, Nat. Commun., 2024, 15, 4630
DOI : 10.1038/s41467-024-48949-z - Organocatalytic Olefin C–H Functionalization for Enantioselective Synthesis of Atropisomeric 1, 3-Dienes
Q. H. Wu#, M. Duan#, Y. Chen#, P. Yu, Y. B. Wang, J. K. Cheng, S. H. Xiang, K. N. Houk, B. Tan, Nat. Catal., 2024, 7, 185-194 (co-first author)
DOI : 10.1038/s41929-023-01097-x - Chiral Phosphoric Acid Catalyzed Conversion of Epoxides into Thiiranes: Mechanism, Stereochemical Model, and New Catalyst Design
M. Duan#, C. D. Díaz-Oviedo#, Y. Zhou, X. Chen, P. Yu, B. List, K. N. Houk, Y. Lan, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2022, 61, e202113204 (co-first author)
DOI : 10.1002/anie.202113204 - Catalytic Enantioselective Synthesis of Chiral Tetraarylmethanes
X. Li#, M. Duan#, Z. Deng#, Q. Shao, M. Chen, G. Zhu, K. N. Houk, J. Sun, Nat. Catal., 2020, 3, 1010–1019 (co-first author)
DOI : 10.1038/s41929-020-00535-4