Postdoctoral Fellows and Graduate Students
Dr. Xian Zhao
Xian completed his Ph.D. at Donghua University with Professor Feng-Ling Qing and Lingling Chu in organicchemistry. His research interests focus on the development of Ni-catalyzed carbofunctionalization of C–C unsaturated bonds and fluorine chemistry. In 2023, he joined the Liu lab as a postdoctoral researcher. Outside of his time he enjoys playing badminton and watching moives.
Dr. Decai Ding
Decai received his B.S. degree at Zhengzhou University. Next, he received his PhD degree at University of Science and Technology of China in 2022 where he worked with Prof. Chuan Wang. Then, he joined Liu’s group at the University of Cincinnati for his postdoctoral research in 2023. His research interests focus on copper catalyzed asymmetric difluoromethylation.
Dr. Su Chen
Su received her B.S. from Xiamen university in 2018 where she works with Prof. Yufen Zhao focusing on Transition-metal-catalyzed radical phosphorylation. Then, she completed her Ph.D in 2022 at the KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), mainly working on the Palladium-catalyzed remote C-H bond activation under the direction of Prof. Erik Van der Eycken. In November 2022, Su joined Liu’s group as a postdoc.
Chao Wang
Chao obtained his MSc in 2021, from Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine where he worked with Professor Wei Lee in developing novel strategy to synthesize pharmaceutical structures. Chao is pretty interested in organic methodology study including transition metal catalyzed cross-coupling reactions, photo catalyst induced redox reactions et. al. In his free time, he likes playing basketball, working out in gym, and socializing.
chaowg@mail.uc.edu
Lingfeng Yin
Lingfeng received his BS from Shantou University where he worked with Professor Li Dang exploring the photoinduced boryl radical reaction. He joined the Liu lab in 2023 and prepared to work on the mechanism study about high valent copper intermediate. In his leisure time, Lingfeng enjoys swimming.
yinlf@ucmail.uc.edu
Former Members
Dr. Shengtong Niu 2023-2024
Shengtong received his Ph.D. from the Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure, Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the guidance of Professor Xinqiang Fang in organic chemistry. His research interests are centered around the development of Kinetic Resolution and copper catalysis. In 2023, he joined the Liu lab as a postdoctoral researcher.
Dr. Wenhao Yan 2019-2024
Wenhao received his BS from East China University of Science&Technology where he worked with Professor Zou Lei exploring supramolecular assembly. He joined the Liu lab in 2019 and work on copper chemistry. In 2023, he received his Ph.D. from University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Aijie Cai 2020-2022
Aijie Cai received his MSc in 2015, from Tianjin University where he worked with Professor Jun-An Ma developing an efficient method for diastereoselective synthesis of CF3-substituted oxazolines and vicinal amino alcohols. He received his Ph.D. in 2019 at ICIQ working on allylic substitution reactions with high regio- and enantioselectivity under the direction of Professor Arjan W. Kleij.Outside of his free time he enjoys playing badminton, swimming, Skiing, and watching movies.
Dr. Xiaojun Zeng 2019-2020
Xiaojun Zeng received his Ph.D. from Donghuan university in 2018 where he worked with Professor Bo Xu focusing on the development of gold catalyzed halogenation reactions. In 2019, he joined the Liu lab as a postdoctoral researcher and has been working on the method development for difluoromethylation. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to music and watching basketball.
Matthew Paeth 2017-2020
Matt Paeth received his BS from Ripon College where he worked with Professor Patrick Willoughby developing a method for synthesizing N,O-Acetals from N-acylphthalimides and aldehydes. He joined the Liu lab in 2017 and has been working on new copper chemistry. Outside of his free time he enjoys going to the gym, fishing, hiking, and watching football.
Kate Bradford 2017-2019
Kate received her BS from the University of Richmond. During her undergrad career, she worked with Professor Tim Johann at Roanoke College developing a new drug target for antibiotic resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. She joined the Liu lab in 2017 and has been working on new ways to activate C-H bonds. In her free time, Kate enjoys visiting new breweries, cheering on Manchester City, and spending time with her hedgehog, Charlie.
Jacob Mahran
Undergraduate
2021
Brett Karsten
Undergraduate
2021
Sam Tyndall
Undergraduate
2017-2020
Dongqi Yang
Undergraduate
2018-2020
Tony Durgham
Undergraduate
2018-2020
Samson Zacate
Undergraduate
2017-2020
Jenn Peters
Undergraduate
2017-2020
William Carson
Undergraduate
2017-2019
Juliana Livieri
Undergraduate
2017-2019
Kaitlyn Flynn
Undergraduate
2017-2019
Elizabeth Hale
Undergraduate
2017-2020