Yujiang Mei

Yujiang Mei Ph.D. Institution: UNM Ph.D. Year: 2007 Postdoc Institution: UConn Postdoc Years: 2007–2008 Postdoc Institution: Wayne State University Postdoc Years: 2008–2011 Current Employer: Grand Rapids Community College

Yujiang Mei is a former postdoctoral researcher from the Burdette group. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2007 from University of New Mexico where he worked on fluorescent chemosensors and organocatalysis under the guidance of Professor Paul Bentley. From 2007 to 2008, he worked with Professor Shawn Burdette at University of Connecticut on fluorescent sensors for nitrate and mercury based on dendrimers. Since 2008, he has been a postdoctoral researcher at Wayne State University, working with Professor Matthew Allen. Currently, Mei works on enantioselective lanthanide-catalyzed reactions and MRI.

Research

As a graduate student at University of New Mexico, Mei developed fluorescent sensors for Zn²⁺ and Cu²⁺, which are both associated with neurological events. The Zn²⁺ sensor PYDPY1 that he developed, is the first chemosensor to demonstrate Zn²⁺-induced fluorescence response during oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) at the synapse of neurons. He also developed thioureas and pyrrolidine imides as organocatalysts, and successfully applied these catalysts to chlorination and acetalization to the synthesis of α,β-unsaturated ketones. As a postdoctoral researcher at Wayne State, he developed a new class of chiral ligands for the aqueous, lanthanide-catalyzed asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol reaction. This new class of lanthanide-based chiral precatalysts is easy to synthesize and offers excellent enantioselectivity and diastereoselectivity for aqueous carbon–carbon-forming reaction

Publications

12. P. Dissanayake, Y. Mei and M. J. Allen. ACS Catal. 2011, 1, 1203–1212. Luminescence-Decay as an Easy-to-Use Tool for the Study of Lanthanide-Containing Catalysts in Aqueous Solutions.

11. Y. Mei, C. J. Frederickson, L. J. Giblin, J. H. Weiss, Y. Medvedeva and P. A. Bentley. Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 7107–7109. Sensitive and Selective Detection of Zinc Ions in Neuronal Vesicles Using PYDPY1, A Simple Turn-On Dipyrrin.

10. Y. Mei, P. Dissanayake and M. J. Allen. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 12871–12873. A New Class of Ligands for Aqueous, Lanthanide-Catalyzed, Enantioselective Mukaiyama Aldol Reactions.

9. N.-D. H. Gamage, Y. Mei, J. Garcia and M. J. Allen. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 8923–8925. Oxidatively-Stable, Aqueous Europium(II) Complexes through Steric and Electronic Manipulation of Cryptand Coordination Chemistry.

8. Y. Mei, P. A. Bentley and J. Du. Tetrahedron Lett. 2009, 50, 4199–4200. NCS with Thiourea as High Efficient Catalysts for Acetalization of Alhehydes.

7. Y. Mei, P. A. Bentley and J. Du. Tetrahedron Lett. 2008, 49, 3802–3804. Thiourea Catalysis of NCS in the Synthesis of α-Chloroketones.

6. P. A. Bentley, Y. Mei, and J. Du. Tetrahedron Lett. 2008, 49, 2653–2655. Thiourea’s Catalysis of NCS in the Synthesis of β-Chloroethers.

5. P. A. Bentley, Y. Mei and J. Du. Tetrahedron Lett. 2008, 49, 1425–1427. Thiourea’s Catalysis of NCS in the Synthesis of Chlorohydrins.

4. Y. Mei and P. A. Bentley. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2006, 16, 3131–3134. A Ratiomeric Fluorescent Sensor for Zn²⁺ Based on Internal Charge Transfer (ICT).

3. Y. Mei, P. A. Bentley and W. Wang. Tetrahedron Lett. 2006, 47, 2447–2449. A Selective and Sensitive Chemosensor for Cu²⁺ Based on 8-Hydroxyquinoline.

2. J. Wang, H. Li, Y. Mei, B. Lou, D. Xu, D. Xie, H. Guo and W. Wang. J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 5678–5687. Direct, Facile Aldehyde and Ketone α-Selenenylation Reactions Promoted by L-Prolinamide and Pyrrolidine Sulfonamide Organocatalysts.

1. W. Wang, Y. Mei, H. Li and J. Wang. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 601–604. A Novel Pyrrolidine Imide Catalyzed Direct Formation of α,β-Unsaturated Ketones from Unmodified Ketones and Aldehydes.