On October 10th, 2023, we were pleased to welcome Prof. Xingang Zhang from the Key Laboratory of Organofluorine Chemistry, at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, to the Lihu Campus of Shenzhen University, where he delivered an inspiring lecture titled "Catalytic Coupling Reaction Enabled by Metal Difluorocarbene". Professor Zhang was invited by Associate Professor Guo-Kai Liu from the School of Pharmacy of the Shenzhen University Medical School, marking the 85th talk of the Shenzhen Medical Forum.

Professor Xingang Zhang gave a wonderful presentation on metal difluorocarbene chemistry, outlining his research focus on the rational design of metal difluorocarbenes, and specifically, the synthesis, characterization and application of Pd=CF₂, Cu=CF₂ and other metal difluorocarbene species. Professor Zhang explained how he successfully explored the first example of a catalytic coupling reaction based on metal difluorocarbene, and proposed the nucleophilic and protonic process of Pd(0)=CF₂ , which has since been named the “Metal Difluorocarbene Coupling Reaction”. The Cu=CF₂ species was initially separated in Professor Zhang’s laboratory, where research members proposed a nucleophilic addition mechanism of Cu=CF₂, thus establishing the theoretical principle of copper difluorocarbene chemistry.

Professor Zhang's lecture aroused great interest and a warm response from the audience and was followed by an energetic and interactive question and answer session. Professor Zhang’s patient and detailed answers were of great value to all those in attendance.

Brief introduction to the speaker

Professor Xingang Zhang obtained his BSc degree in 1998 from Sichuan University (China) and his Ph.D. in 2003 at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). After his postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (USA), he joined the faculty team of SIOC as a research associate professor in 2008, and later became a research professor in 2012. He is now the director of the Key Laboratory of Organofluorine Chemistry, CAS. His research interests are focused on organofluorine chemistry and chemical biology. He is recognized for his establishment of a research system for transition-metal-catalyzed fluoroalkylations from inexpensive industrial chemicals. Moreover, he discovered the first example of a metal difluorocarbene involved catalytic coupling, opening new avenues to understanding metal difluorocarbene chemistry. He also synthesized, isolated, and characterized the first copper difluorocarbene complex, and established a modular catalytic difluoroalkylation strategy, providing a new dimension for the synthesis of fluorinated compounds. Professor Zhang received the Thieme Chemistry Journal Award and the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2014, the RSC Fluorine Chemistry Prize and the Chinese Chemical Society-Royal Society of Chemistry Young Chemist Award in 2015, and the CCS Huang Wei-Yuan Fluorine Chemistry Prize in 2021.