Prof. TAN Xuefeng | Department of Chemistry

Prof. TAN Xuefeng

譚雪鋒教授

Assistant Professor of Department of Chemistry

Contact Information

Office:	YEUNG-G6639
Phone:	+852 3442-7822
Fax:	+852 3442-0522
Email:	xuefetan@cityu.edu.hk
ORCID:	0000-0002-6121-1499

Research Interests

Organic Synthesis
Electroorganic Synthesis
Organometallic Catalysis
Biomimetic Catalysis

Dr. Xuefeng Tan obtained his B.Sc. in Applied Chemistry from Huazhong Agricultural University (2011). He got his PhD in 2016 under the supervision of Prof. Xumu Zhang from Wuhan University, where his research interests mainly focused on highly efficient catalytic hydrogenation. Afterwards, he moved to Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) as a postdoc, also under the supervision of Prof. Xumu Zhang. He was deeply influenced by Prof. Xumu Zhang’s passion on pursuit of industrialization. In 2019, he began to study as a postdoc in Goettingen University under the supervision of Prof. Lutz Ackermann, where he gained great passion on electroorganic synthesis based on transition metal catalysis. In early 2021, he was recruited as a Research Assistant Professor in Prof. Jianwei Sun’s group in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), where he developed two excellent asymmetric catalyses based on Chiral Phosphorate Acid (CPA) catalysts, with the emphasis of weak interactions in electrochemical organic synthesis. He joined the City University of Hong Kong as an Assistant Professor in June, 2023.

Dr. Tan’s current research interests lie in the field of developing highly efficient organic synthesis methodologies. In the future, his research will focus on the biomimetic catalysis, with the emphasis of connecting different subjects, including organic synthesis, theoretical calculation, material science and biological chemistry. The ultimate goal is to solve practical application problems, such as the efficient synthesis of drugs and advanced materials, by developing efficient synthetic methods, and finally apply them to industrialization.

Representative Publications

X. Tan*, Q.-L. Wang, J.-W. Sun*, Electricity-driven Asymmetric Bromocyclization Enabled by Chiral Phosphate Anion Phase-transfer Catalysis, Nat. Commun., 2023, 14 (357).
X. Tan＃, Z. Deng＃, Q. Wang, S. Chen, G. Zhu*, J. Sun*, Enantioselective Synthesis of Tetraarylmethanes through meta-Hydroxyl-directed Benzylic Substitution. Nature Synthesis 2023, 2, 275-285.
X. Tan＃; L. Massignan＃; X. Hou; J. Frey; J. C. A. Oliveira; M. N. Hussain; L. Ackermann*. Rhoda-Electrocatalyzed Bimetallic C−H Oxygenation by Weak O-Coordination. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 13264-13270.
X. Tan; X. Hou; T. Rogge; L. Ackermann*. Ruthenaelectro-Catalyzed Domino Three-Component Alkyne Annulation for Expedient Isoquinoline Assembly. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 4619-4624.
L. Massignan＃; X. Tan＃; T. H. Meyer; R. Kuniyil; A. M. Messinis; L. Ackermann*. C−H Oxygenation Reactions Enabled by Dual Catalysis with Electrogenerated Hypervalent Iodine Species and Ruthenium Complexes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 3184-3189.
X. Tan; J. Sun*. Nickel-catalyzed asymmetric dicarbofunctionalization of alkynes to access axially chiral styrenes. Chem Catalysis 2022, 2, 2813-2815. (Preview)
W. Zeng＃; X. Tan＃; Y. Yu; G.-Q. Chen*; X. Zhang*. Copper-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrosilylation of β-Nitroethyl Aryl Ketones. Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 858-862.
F. Wang＃; X. Tan＃; T. Wu; L.-S. Zheng; G.-Q. Chen*; X. Zhang*. Ni-Catalyzed asymmetric reduction of α-keto-β-lactams via DKR enabled by proton shuttling. Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 15557-15560.
X. Tan; W. Zeng; J. Wen*.; X. Zhang*. Iridium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of α-Fluoro Ketones via a Dynamic Kinetic Resolution Strategy. Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 7230-7233.
Y. Shi＃; X. Tan＃; S. Gao; Y. Zhang; J. Wang; X. Zhang*; Q. Yin*. Direct Synthesis of Chiral NH Lactams via Ru-Catalyzed Asymmetric Reductive Amination/Cyclization Cascade of Keto Acids/Esters. Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 2707-2713.
X. Tan; S. Gao; W. Zeng; S. Xin; Q. Yin*; X. Zhang*. Asymmetric Synthesis of Chiral Primary Amines by Ruthenium-Catalyzed Direct Reductive Amination of Alkyl Aryl Ketones with Ammonium Salts and Molecular H2. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 2024-2027.
X. Tan; W. Zeng; X. Zhang; L. W. Chung*; X. Zhang*. Development of a novel secondary phosphine oxide-ruthenium(ii) catalyst and its application for carbonyl reduction. Chem. Commun. 2018, 54, 535-538.
X. Tan＃; G. Wang＃; Z. Zhu; C. Ren; J. Zhou; H. Lv; X. Zhang; L. W. Chung*; L. Zhang; X. Zhang*. Hydrogenation of Aldehydes Catalyzed by an Available Ruthenium Complex. Org. Lett. 2016, 18, 1518-1521.
Q. Wang＃; X. Tan＃; Z. Zhu; X.-Q. Dong*; X. Zhang*. New synthetic strategy for chiral 2-oxazolidinones derivatives via rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation. Tetrahedron Lett. 2016, 57, 658-662.
G. Wang＃; X. Tan＃; H. Lv; M. Zhao; M. Wu; J. Zhou; X. Zhang*; L. Zhang*. Highly Selective Conversion of Cellobiose and Cellulose to Hexitols by Ru-Based Homogeneous Catalyst under Acidic Conditions. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2016, 55, 5263-5270.
X. Tan; Y. Wang; Y. Liu; F. Wang; L. Shi; K.-H. Lee; Z. Lin; H. Lv*; X. Zhang*. Highly Efficient Tetradentate Ruthenium Catalyst for Ester Reduction: Especially for Hydrogenation of Fatty Acid Esters. Org. Lett. 2015, 17, 454-457.
X. Tan; Q. Wang; Y. Liu; F. Wang; H. Lv; X. Zhang*. A new designed hydrazine group-containing ruthenium complex used for catalytic hydrogenation of esters. Chem. Commun. 2015, 51, 12193-12196.

Job openings

Highly motivated candidates, including research assistant, PhD student and PostDoc, are warmly welcome to join our group. All new and creative ideas are encouraged in our lab. Please feel free to contact me by sending your CV to my email (xuefetan@cityu.edu.hk).