Chief Scientist Laboratories Organometallic Chemistry Laboratory
Chief Scientist: Zhaomin Hou (D.Eng.)
Research Summary

"New Catalysts, New Reactions, New Materials" -this is the main research theme at the Organometallic Chemistry Laboratory. The discovery of novel catalysts can lead to the development of unprecedented chemical reactions and the creation of innovative functional materials that cannot be synthesized by traditional methods. Our research interests cover broad areas of organometallic chemistry, which include the synthesis of new organometallic complexes having novel structures, the development of more efficient, selective catalysts for olefin polymerization and organic synthesis, and the activation and efficient utilization of small molecules. Much of our work lies at the interfaces between inorganic, organic, polymer, and materials chemistry, with an emphasis being placed on the development of our original catalysts for applications in efficient, selective chemical synthesis.
Main Research Fields
- Chemistry
Related Research Fields
- Environmental Science
- Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering
- Medicine, Dentistry & Pharmacy
- Organic chemistry
- Synthetic chemistry
- Polymer chemistry
Keywords
- Olefin Polymerization
- C-H Bond Functionalization
- Dinitrogen Activation
- Transformation of Carbon Dioxide to Useful Chemicals
- Asymmetric Catalysis
Selected Publications
- 1.
Shima, T., Zhuo, Q., Zhou, X., Wu, P., Owada, R., Luo, G., and Hou, Z.:
"Hydroamination of alkenes with dinitrogen and titanium polyhydrides"
Nature., 632, 307-312. (2024) - 2.
Zhou, X., Zhuo, Q., Shima, T., Kang, X., and Hou, Z.:
"Denitrogenative Ring-Contraction of Pyridines to a Cyclopentadienyl Skeleton at a Dititanium Hydride Framework“
J. Am. Chem. Soc, 146, 31348–31355 (2024) - 3.
Cong, X., Hao, N., Mishra, A., Zhuo, Q., An, K., Nishiura, M., and Hou, Z.:
"Regio- and Diastereoselective Annulation of α,β-Unsaturated Aldimines with Alkenes via Allylic C(sp3)–H Activation by Rare-Earth Catalysts"
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 146,10187-10198 (2024) - 4.
Huang, L., Yang, Y., Shao, J., Xiong, G., Wang, H., Nishiura, M., and Hou, Z.:
"Synthesis of Tough and Fluorescent Self-Healing Elastomers by Scandium-Catalyzed Terpolymerization of Pyrenylethenylstyrene, Ethylene, and Anisylpropylene"
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 146, 2718-2727. (2024) - 5.
Zhuo, Q., Yang, J., Zhou, X., Shima, T., Luo, Y., and Hou, Z.:
"Aza-Michael Addition of Dinitrogen to α, β-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds in a Dititanium Framework"
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 145, 22803-22813. (2023) - 6.
Wang, H., Yang, Y., Nishiura, M., Hong, Y., Nishiyama, Y., Higaki, Y., and Hou, Z.:
"Making Polyisoprene Self-Healable through Microstructure Regulation by Rare-Earth Catalysts",
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 61, e202210023. (2022) - 7.
Lou, S., Luo, G., Yamaguchi, S., An, K., Nishiura, M., and Hou, Z.:
"Modular Access to Spiro-dihydroquinolines via Scandium-Catalyzed Dearomative Annulation of Quinolines with Alkynes"
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 143, 20462-20471. (2021) - 8.
Wang, H., Yang, Y., Nishiura, M., Higaki, Y., Takahara, A., Hou, Z.:
"Synthesis of Self-Healing Polymers by Scandium-Catalyzed Copolymerization of Ethylene and Anisylpropylenes"
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 141, 3249-3257 (2019). - 9.
Hu, S., Shima, T., and Hou, Z.:
"Carbon-Carbon Bond Cleavage and Rearrangement of Benzene by a Trinuclear Titanium Hydride"
Nature, 512, 413-415 (2014). - 10.
Shima, T., Hu, S., Luo, G., Kang, X., Luo, Y., and Hou, Z.:
"Dinitrogen Cleavage and Hydrogenation by a Trinuclear Titanium Polyhydride Complex"
Science, 340, 1549-1552 (2013).
Recent Research Results
Sep. 5, 2024
Making valuable molecules from the air
Annual research report
Related Links
Lab Members
Principal investigator
- Zhaomin Hou
- Chief Scientist
Core members
- Satoshi Kamiguchi
- Senior Research Scientist
- Masayoshi Nishiura
- Senior Research Scientist
- Takanori Shima
- Senior Research Scientist
- Masanori Takimoto
- Senior Research Scientist
- Liang Zhang
- Senior Research Scientist
- Xiaoxi Zhou
- Special Postdoctoral Researcher
- Kei Nishii
- Visiting Scientist
- Yuka Cowart
- Assistant
- Keiko Nakamura
- Administrative Part-time Worker I
Contact Information
Chemistry and Materials Physics Bldg,
2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
Email: houz@riken.jp