Name: Zhenhua Zhang
Title: Professor
Email: zhhzhang@suda.edu.cn
Address: Room A305, Building 701, 199 Ren’ai Road, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
Background Information:
Zhenhua Zhang received his B.S. and M.Sc. degrees from Lanzhou University in 2013 and 2016, respectively. He then moved to Germany to pursue his Ph.D. studies under the supervision of Prof. Andreas Gansäuer at the University of Bonn. In 2021, he was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship and conducted postdoctoral research with Prof. Daniele Leonori at the University of Manchester and RWTH Aachen University. In 2025, he joined the group of Prof. Armido Studer at the University of Münster for further postdoctoral research. In 2026, he returned to China and began his independent academic career as a professor at Soochow University.
Research
His research focuses on the development of organic synthesis methodologies, with particular emphasis on the discovery of heterogeneous catalytic strategies to address challenges in synthetic chemistry.
Publications (* refers to corresponding authors;† refers to co-first authors)
1. Z. Zhang,† G. Lonardi,† T. Sephton,† Y. Guersoy, C. Stavagna, M. Bietti, G. Lenardon, D. Leonori*, Nature2025, 647, 913, Deaminative Cross-Coupling of Amines by Boryl Radical β-Scission
2. Z. Zhang, L. Poletti., D. Leonori*, J. Am. Chem. Soc.2024, 146, 22424, A Radical Strategy for the Alkylation of Amides with Alkyl Halides by Merging Boryl Radical-Mediated Halogen-Atom Transfer and Copper Catalysis
3. Z. Zhang,M. J. Tilby, D. Leonori*, Nat. Synth. 2024, 3, 1221, Boryl Radical-Mediated Halogen-Atom Transfer Enables Arylation of Alkyl Halides with Electrophilic and Nucleophilic Coupling Partners
4. Z. Zhang, D. Slak, T. Krebs, M. Leuschner, E. Kuchuk, J. Schmidt, L. Domenianni, J. Büning, S. Grimme*, P. Vöhringer*, A. Gansäuer* , J. Am. Chem. Soc.2023, 145, 26667, A Chiral Titanocene Complex as Regiodivergent Photoredox Catalyst– Synthetic Scope, Mechanism of Catalyst Generation
5. H. Caldora,† Z. Zhang,† M. J. Tilby, O. Turner, D. Leonori* , Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2023, 62, e202301656, Dual Photochemical H-Atom Transfer & Cobalt Catalysis for the Desaturative Synthesis of Phenolsfrom Cyclohexanones
6. Z. Zhang,† B. Górski,†D. Leonori* , J. Am. Chem. Soc.2022, 144, 1986,Merging Halogen-Atom Transfer (XAT) and Copper Catalysis for the Modular Suzuki–Miyaura-Type Cross-Coupling of Alkyl Iodides and Organoborons
7. Z. Zhang, J. B. Stückrath, S. Grimme*, A. Gansäuer* , Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2021, 60, 14339, Titanocene-Catalyzed [2+2] Cycloaddition of Bisenones and Comparison with Photoredox Catalysis and Established Methods
8. Z. Zhang, T. Hilche, D. Slak, N. R. Rietdijk, U. N. Oloyede, R. A. Flowers II*,A. Gansäuer*, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2020, 59, 9355, Titanocenes as Photoredox Catalysts Using Green‐Light Irradiation
9. Z. Zhang, R. Richrath, A. Gansäuer* , ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 3208, Merging Catalysis in Single Electron Steps with Photoredox Catalysis—Efficient and Sustainable Radical Chemistry
10. Z. Zhang, W. Sun, G. Zhu, J. Yang, M. Zhang, L. Hong, R. Wang*, Chiral Phosphoric Acid Catalyzed Enantioselective 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition Reaction of Azlactones, Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 1377