RESEARCHERID

Takashi Ooi

Principal Investigator, Professor

Website：http://www.chembio.nagoya-u.ac.jp/labhp/organic3/index_e.html
E-mail：tooi[at]apchem.nagoya-u.ac.jp　(Please replace [at] with @ when sending an email.)

Organic ion pair catalysis, molecular recognition, molecule activation, pharmaceuticals
Ooi has been creating a bold stream of research on the molecular design of various chiral organic ion pairs and their rational structural modifications for eliciting unique functions as molecular catalysts, providing a solid basis for safe and sustainable supply of useful organic compounds. His accomplishments have had a significant impact on the frontiers of chemistry in terms of developing a fundamental understanding of the relationship between the three-dimensional structure of a chiral organic ion pair and its catalytic and stereocontrolling abilities. He will be involved mainly in the development of molecules that selectively induce plant growth, molecules that improve animal reproduction, and molecules that can overcome species barrier, collaborating with the groups of Kinoshita, Yoshimura, Higashiyama, Bode, and Itami.

Profile

1989B.S.; Nagoya University (Applied Chemistry & Synthetic Chemistry)
1991M.S.; Nagoya University (Applied Chemistry)
1994Dr. Eng.; Nagoya University (Applied Chemistry)
1992-1994JSPS Research Fellow (DC)
1994-1995JSPS Research Fellow; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
1995-1998Assistant Professor; Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University
1998-2000Lecturer; Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University
2001-2006Associate Professor; Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University
2006-presentProfessor; Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University
2013-presentProfessor; WPI-ITbM, Nagoya University
2013-presentResearch Representative; JST CREST Project

Research Highlights

Selected Awards and Honors

2020 Chemical Society of Japan Award
2017 SSOCJ Daiichi-Sankyo Award for Medicinal Organic Chemistry
2014 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)
2013 Inoue Prize for Science, Inoue Foundation
2011 IBM Japan Science Prize
2010 JSPS Prize, Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences
2008 ACP Lectureship Award, Taiwan

Selected Publications

  • Designer Dithiocarbamates as Radical Covalent Catalysts via Excited-State Triplet Biradicals: Application to Skeletal Reorganization of Vinylaziridines. Tatsuhiro Kawaguchi, Yurina Shioda, Yutaro Hanai, Tsubasa Nakashima, Takashi Ooi. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, 148, 5585-5593. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c20284

  • Deoxygenative [3 + 2] Annulation of α,β-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds and Electron-Rich Olefins via Photocatalytic Umpolung of Triarylphosphine. Taiga Ando, Daisuke Yokogawa, Kohsuke Ohmatsu, Takashi Ooi. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 24220-24224. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c06114

  • Regiodivergent Photocatalytic Annulation for the Synthesis of gem-Difluorinated Cyclic Hydrocarbons. Tobias E. Schirmer, Julian C. G. Kürschner, Yuki Uchida, Yuya Taura, Pablo Gabriel, Line Næsborg, Daisuke Yokogawa, Yoshitaka Aramaki, Takashi Ooi. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 64, e202502450. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202502450

  • p-Diarylboryl Halothiophenols as Multifunctional Catalysts via Photoactive Intramolecular Frustrated Lewis Pairs. Takeru Kikura, Yuya Taura, Yoshitaka Aramaki, and Takashi Ooi. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 20425-20431. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c06122

  • Zwitterionic Acridinium Amidate: A Nitrogen-Centered Radical Catalyst for Photoinduced Direct Hydrogen Atom Transfer. Lukas Entgelmeier, Soichiro Mori, Shion Sendo, Rie Yamaguchi, Ryuhei Suzuki, Takeshi Yanai, Olga García Mancheño, Kohsuke Ohmatsu, Takashi Ooi. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, e202404890. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202404890