Biography

Dr. Yuxuan Ye was born in 1991 in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China. He obtained his B.S. in Chemistry from Peking University, where he did his undergraduate research with Prof. Jianbo Wang and Prof. Yan Zhang. During his undergraduate studies, he also carried out summer research at the University of California, Los Angeles with Prof. Neil Garg. Dr. Ye received his Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the guidance of Prof. Stephen Buchwald. He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Todd Hyster at Princeton University and Cornell University. Dr. Ye is currently an assistant professor at Westlake University since September 2022. His research interests focus on the development of novel biocatalytic methods for organic synthesis and other applications. 

Research

Dr. Ye’s research covers a number of topics in organic chemistry including biocatalysis, photocatalysis, and transition metal catalysis.

1.With the merger of biocatalysis and photocatalysis, the unprecedented ability of enzymes to control high-energy nitrogen-centered radicals for biocatalytic synthesis was unlocked. A general photoenzymatic platform for asymmetric radical hydroamination was developed.

2.The first high-throughput screening platform for photoenzymatic reactions was developed. It set the foundation for enzyme directed evolution under photochemistry conditions.

3.A novel bulky biaryl phosphine ligand was developed for Pd-catalyzed fluorination of vinyl triflates. During the mechanistic study, an unusual transmetalation pathway involving anin situligand dearomatization caused by the additive was discovered.

4.Using an umpolung strategy, a variety of electrophilic indole, indazole and benzimidazole reagents were developed for CuH-catalyzed asymmetric alkylation of nitrogen-containing heterocycles.

Representative Publications (* denotes corresponding authors)

1. Yuxuan Ye^#, Jingzhe Cao^#, Daniel G. Oblinsky, Deeptak Verma, Christopher K. Prier, Gregory D. Scholes, Todd K. Hyster*. Taming Nitrogen-Centered Radicals-A Photoenzymatic Platform for Enantioselective Hydroamination.Nat. Chem. 2023, 15, 206–212.

2. Yuxuan Ye^#, Seoung-Tae Kim^#, Ryan P. King, Mu-Hyun Baik*, Stephen L. Buchwald*.Studying Regioisomer Formation in the Pd-Catalyzed Fluorination of Cyclic Vinyl Triflates: Evidence for in situ Ligand Modification.Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2023, e202300109.

3. Yuxuan Ye, Ilia Kevlishvili, Sheng Feng, Peng Liu*, Stephen L. Buchwald*.Highly Enantioselective Synthesis of Indazoles with a C3-Quaternary Chiral Center Using CuH Catalysis. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 10550–10556.

4. Yuxuan Ye, Seoung-Tae Kim, Jinhoon Jeong, Mu-Hyun Baik*, Stephen L. Buchwald*. CuH-Catalyzed Enantioselective Alkylation of Indole Derivatives with Ligand-Controlled Regiodivergence. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 3901–3909.

5. Yuxuan Ye, Takashi Takada, Stephen L. Buchwald*. Palladium-Catalyzed Fluorination of Cyclic Vinyl Triflates: Effect of TESCF₃ as an Additive. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2016, 55, 15559–15563.

6. Yuxuan Ye^#, Haigen Fu^#, Todd K Hyster*.Activation Modes in Biocatalytic Radical Cyclization Reactions. J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol,2021, 48, DOI:10.1093/jimb/kuab021.

7. James Levi Knippel, Yuxuan Ye, Stephen L. Buchwald*.Enantioselective C2-Allylation of Benzimidazoles Using 1,3-Diene Pronucleophiles. Org. Lett. 2021, 23, 2153–2157.

8. Bryce T. Nicholls^#, Daniel G. Oblinsky^#, Sarah I. Kurtoic, Daria Grosheva, Yuxuan Ye, Gregory D. Scholes, Todd K. Hyster*.Engineering a Non-Natural Photoenzyme for Improved Photon Efficiency.Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202113842.

9. Xi Wang, Yuxuan Ye, Songnan Zhang, Jiajie Feng, Yan Xu, Yan Zhang, and Jianbo Wang*. Copper-CatalyzedC(sp³)-C(sp³)BondFormationUsingaHypervalentIodineReagent:AnEfficientAllylicTrifluoromethylation. J. Am. Chem. Soc.2011, 133, 16410–16413.

10. Zhibing Shu, Yuxuan Ye, Yifan, Deng, Jianbo Wang*. Palladium(II)-Catalyzed Direct Conversion of Methyl Arenes into Aromatic Nitriles. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2013, 52, 10573–10576.

11. Stephen D. Ramgren, Liana Hie, Yuxuan Ye, Neil K. Garg*. Nickel-Catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura Couplings in Green Solvents. Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 3950–3953.

Contact Information

Email：yeyuxuan@westlake.edu.cn