PhD (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

B.Sc (Sun Yat-sen University)

Ke received his PhD degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2012. From 2012 to 2015, he was engaged in post-doctoral research in National University of Singapore. In August 2015, he returned to The Chinese University of Hong Kong as an assistant professor (research). As a PI, he has secured 3 Hong Kong Research Grants Council General Research Funds (GRF). He joined School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen as an assistant professor in August 2020.

Ke’s research interests include: organocatalysis, strained ring opening, new Lewis acid/base, asymmetric synthesis, etc. He has published more than 30 SCI papers, of which, as the first/corresponding author, he has published more than 20 papers in peer-reviewed international journals such as J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., ACS Catal., Green Chem., Org. Lett., Adv. Synth. Catal. Some of the methodologies has been highlighted and applied by international colleagues.

Publications (2018-present):

1. Applications of Selenonium Cations as Lewis Acids in Organocatalytic Reactions, X. He, X. Wang, Y.-L. Tse, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 12869–12873. (Highlighted in Synfact October 2018)
2. Lewis Base-Promoted Ring-Opening 1,3-Dioxygenation of Unactivated Cyclopropanes using Hypervalent Iodine Reagent, M. H. Gieuw, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 3782–3786. (Highlighted in Org. Chem. Highlights, March 18^th, 2019)
3. Desymmetrizing Enantio- and Diastereoselective Selenoetherification through Supramolecular Catalysis, J. Y. See, H. Yang, Y. Zhao, M. W. Wong, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* ACS Catal. 2018, 8, 850–858. (Highlighted in Synfact March 2018)
4. Environmentally Benign Indole-Catalyzed Position-Selective Halogenation of Thioarenes and Other Aromatics, Y. Shi, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Green Chem. 2018, 20, 4448–4452.
5. Electrophilic Bromolactonization of Cyclopropyl Diesters Using Lewis Basic Chalcogenide Catalysts, M. H. Gieuw, V. M. Y. Leung, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Adv. Synth. Catal. 2018, 360, 4306–4311.
6. Indole-Catalyzed Bromolactonization: Preparation of Bromolactone in Lipophilic Media, Z. Ke*, T. Chen, Y.-Y. Yeung* Org. Synth. 2018, 95, 256–266.
7. Lipophilic Indole-Catalyzed Intermolecular Bromoesterification of Olefins in Nonpolar Media, Y. Shi, J. Wong, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* J. Org. Chem. 2019, 84, 4017–4024.
8. Unearthing the Mechanism of Umpolung Amide Synthesis, Z. Ke, Y.-Y. Yeung* Chem 2019, 5, 1014–1016.
9. Intermolecular Electrophilic Bromoesterification and Bromoetherification of Unactivated Cyclopropanes,V. M. Y. Leung, M. H. Gieuw, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Adv. Synth. Catal. 2020, 362, 2039–2044.
10. Lipophilic indole mediated chemoselective α-monobromination of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, J. Wong, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Tetrahedron. Lett. 2020, 61, 151772.
11. Zwitterion-Catalyzed Deacylative Dihalogenation of b-Oxo Amides, Z. Ke*, Y.-P. Lam, K.-S. Chan, Y.-Y. Yeung* Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 7353–7357. 
12. Lewis Base Catalyzed Dioxygenation of Olefins with Hypervalent Iodine Reagents, L. Pan, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Org. Lett. 2021, 23, 8174–8178. DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.1c02872
13. Bis-selenonium Cations as Bidentate Chalcogen Bond Donors in Catalysis, X. He, X. Wang, Y. -L. Tse*, Z. Ke*, Y. -Y. Yeung* ACS Catal. 2021, 11, 12632-12642.
14. Autocatalytic aerobic ipso-hydroxylation of arylboronic acid with Hantzsch ester and Hantzsch pyridine, C.-H. Fan, T. Xu, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Org. Chem. Front., 2022, 9, 4091–4096. 
15. A Mechanochemical, Catalyst-Free Cascade Synthesis of 1,3-Diols and 1,4-Iodoalcohols Using Styrenes and Hypervalent Iodine Reagents, L. Pan, L. Zheng, Y. Chen, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2022, e202207926.
16. Novel Cu-doped zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 membranes supported on copper foam for highly efficient catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of phenol, Y. Wu, Z. Ke* Materials Today Chemistry, 2022, 24, 100787. 
17. Amphiphilic indoles as efficient phase-transfer catalysts for bromination in water, Q. Zhang, Y. Xu, X. Liang, Z. Ke* ChemSusChem, 2022, e202200574.
18. Hypervalent Chalcogenonium•••π Bonding Catalysis, Q. Zhang, Y.-Y. Chan, M. Zhang, Y.-Y. Yeung, Z. Ke* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2022, e202208009.

Book Chapters:

1. Furans and Their Benzo Derivatives: Applications, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung* Reference Module in Chemistry, Molecular Sciences and Chemical Engineering, Elsevier: Oxford, 2019, in press. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-409547-2.14770-5
2. Five-Membered Ring Systems: Furans and Benzofurans, Z. Ke^†, G. C. Tsui^†, X.-S. Peng^†, Y.-Y. Yeung^† Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Edited by G. W. Gribble & J. A. Joule; Elsevier: Boston, 2018, 30, 169–195.
3. Five-Membered Ring Systems: Furans and Benzofurans, Z. Ke^†, G. C. Tsui^†, X.-S. Peng^†, Y.-Y. Yeung^† Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Edited by G. W. Gribble & J. A. Joule; Elsevier: Boston, 2017, 29, 239–275.
4. Five-Membered Ring Systems: Furans and Benzofurans, Z. Ke^†, G. C. Tsui^†, X.-S. Peng^†, Y.-Y. Yeung^† Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Edited by G. W. Gribble & J. A. Joule; Elsevier: Boston, 2016, 28, 219–274.
5. Five-membered ring systems: furans and benzofurans, Z. Ke^†, Y.-Y. Yeung^†, G. C. Tsui^†, X.-S. Peng^† Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Edited by G. W. Gribble & J. A. Joule; Elsevier: Boston, 2015, 27, 203–246.