Honghong Da and Jinye Li begin their PhDs
The fourth doctoral cohort is enrolled jointly with Shanghai Jiao Tong University; both students come from Lanzhou University.
2026
5 entriesZhiyang Lin awarded an NSFC Young Scientists Fund grant
Zhiyang Lin joined the group in 2023 as its first postdoctoral fellow and is now a research assistant professor.
Cai Zhai's radical-sorting study appears in Inorganic Chemistry
Congratulations to first author Cai Zhai on a combined mechanistic and experimental study of how ligand class and radical identity govern radical sorting in nickel catalysis.
Cai Zhai, Chengkai Pan, Zhiyang Lin, Wei Liu, Yong Jiang, Yatao Lang, Chen Zhu*
Mechanistic and Experimental Insights into Ligand-Class and Radical-Identity Effects on SH2-Mediated Radical Sorting in Nickel Catalysis
Inorg. Chem. 2026, 65, 14581–14590doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.6c01080
Asymmetric-waveform AC cross-coupling published in Nature Communications
Congratulations to first author Zhiyang Lin on introducing asymmetric-waveform alternating current into nickel-catalyzed asymmetric reductive cross-coupling.
Zhiyang Lin, Cai Zhai, Yong Jiang, Hao Wen, Changhong Wang, Zongwei Cai, Chen Zhu*
Applying Asymmetric-waveform Alternating Current in Nickel-Catalyzed Asymmetric Reductive Cross-coupling
Nat. Commun. 2026, 17, 5646doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72336-5
Chunhong Hu moves to Henan University
A postdoctoral fellow in the group since December 2023, Chunhong Hu leaves for a position at Henan University.
2025
6 entriesXiaofeng Zhang joins as a postdoctoral fellow
Xiaofeng Zhang, who holds a PhD from Nanjing University, joins the group in December.
Muhammad Adnan Bashir joins the faculty of Wuhan Donghu University
A postdoctoral fellow in the group since December 2023, Muhammad Adnan Bashir leaves for a faculty position in chemistry at Wuhan Donghu University.
Alternating-current asymmetric cross-coupling published in Nature Synthesis
Congratulations to first author Wei Liu on applying alternating current in paired photoelectrocatalysis (AC-PEC) to the asymmetric cross-coupling of alcohols.
Wei Liu, Cai Zhai, Yong Jiang, Li-Pu Wei, Hong-Chen Li, Zongwei Cai, Chen Zhu*
Applying Alternating Current in Paired Photo-electrocatalysis (AC-PEC) for Asymmetric Cross-Coupling of Alcohols
Nat. Synth. 2025, 4, 1534–1545doi.org/10.1038/s44160-025-00875-8
Yatao Lang joins as a postdoctoral fellow
Yatao Lang joins the group after completing a doctorate at Lanzhou University.
Chengkai Pan, Guocheng Zhou and Shuangjun Zhu begin their PhDs
The third doctoral cohort is enrolled jointly with the University of Science and Technology of China.
Chen Zhu named leader of a research task in a national science and technology major project
The task, “Intelligent Experimental Design and Laboratory Automation Operating System,” is part of the Ministry of Science and Technology project “AI-Empowered Organic Chemistry.”
2024
3 entriesGuangan Zhang joins as a postdoctoral fellow
Guangan Zhang joins the group from Zhengzhou University, where he completed his PhD under Prof. Junliang Wu.
Hao Wen and Lipu Wei begin their PhDs
The second doctoral cohort is enrolled jointly with the University of Science and Technology of China, where both completed their master's degrees.
Chen Zhu awarded an NSFC Young Scientists Fund grant
The grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China comes one year after the group was founded.
2023
5 entriesThree postdoctoral fellows join the group
Wei Liu, Chunhong Hu, and Muhammad Adnan Bashir join the group with doctorates from Sun Yat-sen University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, respectively.
Chen Zhu selected for the NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Overseas)
Selection for this national program, which recruits high-level young scientists from overseas, comes two months after the group was founded.
Zhiyang Lin joins as the group's first postdoctoral fellow
Zhiyang Lin joins one month after the group was founded, having completed his PhD at the University of Science and Technology of China earlier the same year.
Cai Zhai and Yong Jiang begin their PhDs
The first doctoral cohort is enrolled jointly with Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
2023 · 08
lab
Zhu Research Group opens at EIT Ningbo
Chen Zhu moves from the KAUST Catalysis Center to establish the group in the College of Science at the Eastern Institute of Technology, Ningbo.
Ledger opened August 2023.
The papers behind the headlines