KE, Zhihai

Assistant Professor

Presidential Young Fellow
Education Background

Postdoc (National University of Singapore)

Ph.D. (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

B.Sc (Sun Yat-sen University)

Research Field
Synthetic organic chemistry, organocatalysis, click chemistry, organic framework catalysis
Academic Area
Chemistry, Materials
Personal Website (CUHK-Shenzhen)
https://myweb.cuhk.edu.cn/kezhihai
Email
kezhihai@cuhk.edu.cn
Biography

Ke received his PhD degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2012. From 2012 to 2015, he conducted postdoctoral research at the National University of Singapore. He is the director of UG Chemistry Programme, Presidential Young Scholar at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHKSZ). Before joining CUHKSZ in 2020, he was a research assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at CUHK. He has secured multiple grants (NSFC, Guangdong BABRF, Guangdong TIG, 3 RGC GRF, CUHK-CUHKSZ-GDST Joint Collaboration Fund, Shenzhen Key Lab). Honors include Asian Core Program Lectureship and Open Science Excellent Author Program.

Ke's research interests include organocatalysis, click chemistry, organic framework catalysis, etc. As the corresponding/first author, he has published more than 40 SCI papers in peer-reviewed international journals such as J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem., ACS Catal., Adv. Sci., h-index 22. Some of the catalytic methodologies have been highlighted and applied by international colleagues. https://myweb.cuhk.edu.cn/kezhihai

Academic Publications

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 18th, 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 β-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.
  19. Application of a DIB/BBr3 protocol in metal-free aryl coupling reactions, L. Pan, K.-M. Lee, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung*. New J. Chem. 2022, 46, 21047–21053.
  20. Applications of the DIB–BBr3 Protocol in Bromination Reactions, L. Pan, K.-M. Lee, Y.-Y. Chan, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung*. Org. Lett. 2023, 25, 53–57.
  21. Sonodynamic Therapy of NRP2 Monoclonal Antibody-Guided MOFs@COF Targeted Disruption of Mitochondrial and Endoplasmic Reticulum Homeostasis to Induce Autophagy-Dependent Ferroptosis, Z. Zhao, Y. Wu, X. Liang, J. Liu, Y. Luo, Y. Zhang, T. Li, C. Liu, X. Luo, J. Chen, Y. Wang, S. Wang, T. Wu, S. Zhang, D. Yang, W. Li, J. Yan, Z. Ke*, F. Luo*. Adv. Sci. 2023, 10, 2303872. (Top Viewed Article)
  22. Metal–Organic Frameworks/Graphdiyne/Copper Foam Composite Membranes for Catalytic Applications, Y. Wu, Y. Yang, Z. Ke*. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2023, 15, 40933–40941.
  23. Visible and Selective Gel Assembly via Covalent Click Chemistry, Y. Zheng, Z. Ke*. SmartMat 2024, 5, e1251.
  24. Strategies for the Preparation of Single-Atom Catalysts Using Low-Dimensional Metal–Organic Frameworks. Small 2024, 20, 2403767.
  25. Epitaxial Growth of Unconventional 2H Noble Metals and Crystal Phase-Dependent Selectivity of Pt in Hydrogenation Catalysis. ACS Materials Lett. 2024, 6, 4149–4157.
  26. Computational Modeling and Experimental Approaches for Understanding the Mechanisms of [FeFe]-Hydrogenase. Adv. Sci. 2025, 12, 202408297.
  27. Ultrasound-activated erythrocyte membrane-camouflaged Pt(II) layered double hydroxide enhances PD-1 inhibitor efficacy in triple-negative breast cancer through cGAS-STING pathway-mediated immunogenic cell death. Theranostics 2025, 15(4), 1456–1477.
  28. Phase-Engineered Zirconium MOF-Based Titanium Single-Atom Catalysts: Phase-Dependent Properties and Applications in Biodiesel Synthesis. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, 13, 3849-3857.
  29. Undercoordinated two-dimensional Pt nanoring stabilized on a ring-on-sheet nanoheterostructure for highly efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction. Nano Lett. 2025, 8, 3212–3220.
  30. Zwitterionic Dual Halogen Bond-Catalyzed Electrophilic Bromination of Electron-Deficient Arenes under Mild Conditions. ACS Catal. 2025, 15, 4270–4279. (Highlighted in Synfact, April 2025)
  31. Auto-Tandem Chalcogen Bonding Catalysis: Oxaselenolium-Catalyzed Cascade Povarov–Hydrogen-Transfer Reaction. ACS Catal. 2025, 15, doi: 10.1021/acscatal.5c04636.

Book Chapters:

  1. Furans and Their Benzo Derivatives: Applications, Z. Ke*, Y.-Y. Yeung*. Comprehensive Heterocyclic Chemistry IV, Elsevier: Volume 3, 2022, 412–449. 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.