RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science Advanced Catalysis Research Group
Group Director: Zhaomin Hou (D.Eng.)
Research Summary

Our group aims to develop new generations of catalysts, which are complementary or superior to the existing ones, for applications in efficient utilization of untapped resources and the synthesis of fine chemicals and functional polymer materials. Particular interests are directed to: (1) activation and utilization of N2 for the synthesis of ammonia and nitrogen-containing organic compounds under mild conditions, (2) utilization of CO2 as a chemical feedstock for the synthesis of high-value added fine chemicals, and (3) synthesis of high-performance polymer materials by selective copolymerization of commodity monomers having different properties.
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.
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) - 3.
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) - 4.
Mishra, A., Cong, X., Nishiura, M., and Hou, Z.:
"Enantioselective Synthesis of 1-Aminoindanes via [3 + 2] Annulation of Aldimines with Alkenes by Scandium-Catalyzed C–H Activation"
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 145, 17468-17477. (2023) - 5.
Sahoo, H., Zhang, L., Cheng, J., Nishiura, M., and Hou, Z.:
"Auto-Tandem Copper-Catalyzed Carboxylation of Undirected Alkenyl C–H Bonds with CO2 by Harnessing β-Hydride Elimination"
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 144, 23585-23594. (2022) - 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 airFeb. 26, 2024
Bright and tough: A material that heals itself and glowsSep. 29, 2017
Polarized polymer becomes a team playerJan. 27, 2017
A both/and approach to creating polymersJun. 17, 2016
Harnessing greenhouse gas for batteriesMay 13, 2016
Catalysis gets a metal-free upgradeOct. 24, 2014
Breaking bonds in benzeneAug. 28, 2014
Breaking benzene
Related Links
Lab Members
Principal investigator
- Zhaomin Hou
- Group Director
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
- Mengqing Chen
- Special Postdoctoral Researcher
- Aniket Mishra
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Dafu Cao
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Tongtong Liu
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Zekun Yang
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Guanghui He
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Haoran Zhang
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Kakoli Maji
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Xiaofeng Mao
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Mingjun Chi
- International Program Associate
- Jingjing Shao
- International Program Associate
- Guanchen He
- International Program Associate
- Zhou Sun
- Junior Research Associate
- Tetsuro Murahashi
- Senior Visiting Scientist
- Yi Luo
- Visiting Scientist
- Liliang Wang
- Visiting Scientist
- Mengyang Li
- Visiting Scientist
- Yuka Cowart
- Assistant
Contact Information
S608 Chemistry and Materials Physics Building
2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama
351-0198, Japan
Email: houz@riken.jp