Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry

Dr. Hua Zhao studied chemistry (B.S.) and chemical engineering (M.S.) at Tianjin University, China, before he earned his Ph.D. degree in 2002 from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Newark, NJ, USA, and completed a postdoctoral training at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA. Dr. Zhao is currently a Professor and Chair in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA. He became fascinated with ionic liquids at graduate school while working on organic synthesis and enzymatic resolution of amino acids in aqueous ionic liquids. His current research covers a broad range of interests, including biocatalysis, ionic liquids, biofuels (cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel), synthesis of medicinal molecules with anti-cancer and antiviral properties, and microwave-assisted enzymatic reactions.

Prof. Roberto Paolesse graduated cum laude in chemistry from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1983. He started his academic career at the Department of Chemical Science and Technologies of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” in 1986 as an assistant professor. He has carried out several National and European research projects, and he is also a coordinator of the FET- OPEN project INITIO within the Horizon2020 EU program. He is a full professor of chemistry at the Department of Chemical Science and Technologies of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and also co-director of the Sensors Group of the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Prof. Roberto Paolesse authored more than 400 articles on international journals, six patents and edited two books.

Prof. Stephen Pyne received his BSc (Hons) from Adelaide University (top first class) and his PhD in 1979 from the Australian National University. After postdoctoral research fellowships from the Purdue University (with P. Fuchs) and Harvard (with E.J. Corey) he was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Wollongong in 1985. In 1998, he was appointed as Professor. He won the A.J. Birch Medal for excellence in Organic Chemistry Research, from the Organic Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute in 2012 and the Archibald Ollé Prize for Chemical Literature in 2015. He has published more than 290 journal publications in the areas of natural product synthesis, asymmetric synthesis, natural products, fullerene and medicinal chemistry.

Guan-Wu Wang is currently a full professor at University of Science and Technology of China. He obtained his B.S., M.S. and PhD from Lanzhou University in 1987, 1990, 1993, respectively. He then did his postdoctoral work at Fudan University, Kyoto University, University of Kentucky, University of Chicago and Yale University. He has published over 180 scientific papers. His research interests include fullerene chemistry, mechanochemistry and C–H activation reactions.

Dr. Amirhossein Ahmadi is an experienced researcher with a history of researching in the field of pharmaceutical sciences. He is skilled in clinical research, Animal models, Cellular models, Scientific writing & publishing. He has focused on extensive fields of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Natural products, Radiopharmaceuticals, Nanomedicine, Radiation biology, Cancer chemoradiotherapy and other fields of Pharmacy at the Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. He has published many originals and reviews in high-quality journals and selected as a recognized international editor and peer reviewer by famous publishers. In 2019, he certificated for placing in the top 1% of reviewers in Cross-Field on Publons global reviewer database.

Prof. Jiaqiang E obtained his Ph. D in Thermal Engineering from Central South University in China in 2004. He is currently a Professor at the Department of Energy & Power Engineering and the Director of Institute of New Energy and Energy-Saving & Emission-Reduction Technology, Hunan University, China. Prof. E has co-authored 11 books, 7 review papers, more than 20 conference papers and more than 300 research papers in peer reviewed international journals including more than 100 SCI citation papers and 190 EI citation papers.

Dr. Nader Ghaffari Khaligh received his Ph.D. degree in 2013 from the University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran. After a two-year period at the Professor Reza Institute, he moved to the Nanotechnology & Catalysis Research Study (University of Malaya) as a researcher. Since 2015, Dr. Khaligh is Senior Researcher at University of Malaya. He is author or co-author of over 70 publications, including some reviews and mini-reviews on the heterogeneous catalysts and multi-task reagents. Furthermore, he has given more than 20 lectures at international conferences and research institutions.

Dr. Arun Kumar, a native of Ghaziabad (India) received his Ph.D from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India, in 2009. He then joined Doon University Dehradun, India in July 2015 as an Assistant Professor and has also served as the founding Head I/C of Chemistry Department and Member of Academic Council and Court of Doon University. In addition to completing some research projects (funded by SERB and UGC), he has contributed to publishing 37 articles. He has been a recipient of various fellowships (viz. JRF, SRF, RA and SRA) from CSIR India. Currently his research group is working on development and applications of new catalysts.

Dr. Anuj Kumar is currently working as an assistant professor in the department of chemistry, GLA University, Mathura, India. He completed his Ph.D. in 2017 under the supervision of Prof. Randhir Singh at Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar. He joined Prof Xiaoming Sun’s research group as Post Doctoral Fellow at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China for two years (2017-19). During his post-doctoral program, he has also been guiding many overseas students for their research. So far, he has published 31 research publications in ‘International peer-refereed journals’. Currently, He is guiding 3 doctoral and 4 Masters’ and 4 UG thesis.

Dr. Mallikarjuna N. Nadagouda received his Ph.D. from India in 2003. Dr. Nadagouda went on to become an Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education (ORISE) postdoctoral fellow at the United State Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL), and subsequently achieved his current position as a Physical Scientist at NRMRL in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also adjunct professor at Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA. He has worked in the areas of nanomaterials and nanotechnology, analytical chemistry, green chemistry, polymer blends, solid coatings, solid state chemistry and drug delivery. He has published over 175 papers in reviewed journals with a citation index of around 6700, and he holds several patents.

Prof. Leonardo Palmisano is professor of Chemistry at University of Palermo, member of Italian Chemical Society, American Chemical Society and fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry. His scientific activity has been mainly carried out in the field of heterogeneous photocatalysis for environmental and Green Chemistry applications. Prof. Palmisano is co-author of more than 300 papers and chapters in books, and 7 patents. He is co-author of a didactical book “Fondamenti di Chimica” EdiSes and been recently elected President of SPEA conferences (Solar Chemistry and Photocatalysis: Environmental Applications). Citations 11000 and h-index 57 (SCOPUS), 15400 and h-index 67 (GOOGLE SCHOLAR).

Chuanling Si, received his Ph.D degree from Kangwon National University, Korea, and currently acts as Bentham Ambassador and Distinguished Professor of Tianjin City at Tianjin University of Science and Technology (TUST), China. As the Group Leader at Tianjin Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper and Deputy Director of Department of Science & Technology of TUST, he has authored or co-authored about 180 journal papers and filed 50 patents. His research focuses on the conversion of biomass to chemicals and materials including in cellulose fiber production, lignin valorization, and active natural products separations and elucidations.

Dr Wentao Xu is a Researcher in the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University; PI (Principal Investigator) of Basic Platform for Food Safety in Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health; and Associate Director in The Supervision, Inspection & Testing Center Of Genetical Modified Organisms, (Beijing), MOA. He received his PhD degree from the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering in China Agricultural University. He majors in Biochemical Engineering and its Safety Assessment, cell-based biosensor by Synthetic Biology and Bioorganic Chemistry, Functional Nucleic Acids Structural Investigations and Supramolecular Chemistry, and Chemical Biology. Dr Xu has published about 200 peer-reviewed journal papers and two monographs (“Functional Nucleic Acids Detection in Food Safety: Theories and Applications” and” Ochratoxin A: Biosynthesis, Detection and Biological Toxicity”).

Prof. Xinliang Yu obtained his MSc degree in Physical Chemistry from Xiangtan University in China in 2006 and PhD degree in Chemistry from Hunan University in China in 2016. He is currently a professor at the College of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Institute of Engineering, China. He has published about 50 SCI cited papers. His research interests include studies on structure-activity/property relationships in theoretical organic chemistry.

Dr. Liming Zhang is an expert of organic-inorganic hybrid materials, transition metal complexes with organic ligands, nanomaterials, including their synthesis, characterization, photophysical analysis and application. His research covers materials based on pure organic ones, metal complexes, nanocrystals, material synthesis/processing, theoretical calculation, morphology study, photophysical/optical analysis, spectroscopic analysis and opto-electronic performance. He published over 60 related papers and patents, supported by funds from National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Provincial Science and Technology Developing Project. He serves as an Editor-in-Chief for two international journals and a recognized editorial member or reviewer for more than 50 journals.

Alireza Aslani-Zakariya is a PhD Candidate at the Lorestan University and an Academic Staff at Jundi Shapur University of Technology in Dezful, Islamic Republic of Iran, JSU. He specialized in the design, Synthesis, Characterization and Analysis of Nanomaterials, Modern Nanomaterials, Nanochemistry, Nanomedician, Nano drugs, Coordination Polymers, Nano-Coordination Polymers, Supramolecular Chemistry and Nuclear Nanoparticles and is currently working in these areas of Nanotechnology and Nano-Chemistry. His TEZ is Paramount TEZ in Tarbiat Modares University in 2009. He has 8 patents and more than 60 papers in ISI or International journals. He is an editor of more than 5 international journals and reviewer of more than 150 papers in the international journals.

Debasish Bandyopadhyay, PhD, MRSC, is currently Research Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Texas-Pan American, USA. Dr. Debasish does research in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry and Green Chemistry. His specific areas of interest include Medicinal Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Anticancer drug discovery, and Green Chemistry. He has around 61 Publications in Internationally Peer-reviewed Journals, 93 National/State/Regional presentations, 2 book chapters and 2 patents to his portfolio.

Dr. Franz Bracher studied Pharmacy at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, and obtained his Dr. rer. nat. in 1986. After a postdoctorate in the group of Wolfgang Opppolzer at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), he moved to the University of Marburg (1987-1992), was appointed Associate Professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig, and finally Full Professor for Pharmacy at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich in 1987. His main research topics are the development of novel drug candidates, mostly based on natural products total synthesis, development of inhibitors of sterol biosynthesis in fungal and mammalian cells, heterocyclic chemistry, and the development of novel screening systems for drug discovery. He authored about 200 publications in this field.

Dr. Li Cai is an organic chemist whose research focuses on carbohydrate chemistry, enzymatic synthesis of carbohydrates, and chemical glycobiology. Dr. Cai is also devoted to enhancing the teaching and learning of chemistry, which includes advising undergraduate researches. He received his B.S. degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and M.S. degree in Medicinal Chemistry from Peking University. He then attended the Ohio State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry. He has published more than 25 peer-reviewed papers in chemical research and education (among more than 50 publications total) since joining the USC faculty.

Dr. Asit K. Chakraborti is Professor and Head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), S.A.S. Nagar, India. He received his Ph.D. degree in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata, India in 1985. He has published 158 research papers (with more than 6800 citations) and filed 41 patents. Dr. Chakraborti is Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. His research interests are in synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry. In the area of synthetic organic chemistry, his efforts are directed towards the development of new synthetic methodologies through devising novel concepts.

Prof. Chen is now working at Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2000, he was selected for Hundred Talents Program by CAS. In 2006, he was awarded National Science Fund of China for Distinguished Young Scholars. He has published about 250 research papers and 3 books during the last two decades. His current research interests include (1) synthesis of triptycene-derived macrocyclic hosts and their applications in supramolecular chemistry, (2) synthesis of novel chiral organic dyes and their applications in organic functional materials, (3) synthesis of helicene-based catalysts and their applications in catalytic asymmetric synthesis.

Dr. Biswanath Das received his B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry from Burdwan University and M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry (1st Class, Rank 1st) from Kalyani University. He became a Ph.D. from Calcutta University and continued his Post-Doc in US and Taiwan. His field of research is Chemistry of Bioactive Organic Compounds. Dr. Das has 416 publications (in SI Journals) and 14 Book Articles to his credit. Dr. Das has delivered lectures in various national and international seminars and symposia. He is honored with different prestigious awards.

Roman Dembinski was educated (Ph.D.) at the Polish Academy of Sciences, and as a research associate with J. A. Gladysz. Since 1999, he held a faculty appointment at Oakland University, USA, currently at the rank of Professor and Chair. Recently, he also joined the Center of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry. His scientific interests include synthetic organic, medicinal/nucleosides, fluorous, fluorine, and organometallic chemistry. His publications reached over 1500 citations and h-index of 19. His recent awards include Fulbright Scholar.

Prof. Dr. Yuqiang Ding received his Ph.D. degree in 2002 from Georg-August-University Goettingen (Germany) where he finished his Diploma equivalent examination under the guidance of Professor Herbert W. Roesky. After his postdoctoral research from Max-Planck Institute of Coal Research with Professor Klaus Poerschke, he became a full professor at the Jiangnan University (China) in 2004. His current research interests embrace the synthesis and application of organometallic complexes as catalysts and materials.

Chris Easton is a graduate of Flinders University and the University of Adelaide. He held positions at Harvard University (1980-1981), the Research School of Chemistry (1982), the University of Canterbury (1983-1986) and the University of Adelaide (1986-1994), before his appointment as a Senior Fellow in the Research School of Chemistry, in 1995. He was awarded a D.Sc. from the University of Adelaide in 1998 and is the recipient of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Birch Medal in 2000, and the Archibald Ollé Prize for Chemical Literature in 2000. He was promoted to Professor at the Research School of Chemistry in 2001 and elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2004.

Prof. El Sayed H. El Ashry obtained Ph.D. and D.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Alexandria, Egypt. Currently, Prof. El Ashry is an Emeritus Professor in the University of Alexandria. He received many awards, such as The Gold Medal Telesio-Galilei Academy of Science for the pioneering work in Chemistry, Egypt 1st Class Ribbon of Science and arts from the President of Egypt, a laureate of the first State-Excellence Prize, etc. Prof. El Ashry has published more than 400 scientific publications. He is author of a book and editor of another one in the field of carbohydrate and heterocyclic chemistry.

Prof. Vitor Francisco Ferreira moved in 1980 to the research group of Professor Ernest Wenkert at the University of California San Diego and obtained his Ph.D. In 1992, he became full professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil. He was president of the Brazilian Chemistry Society between 2012 and 2014. Prof. Ferreira’s research interests include synthesis using readily available carbohydrate, heterocycles and naphthoquinones for the synthesis of bioactive compounds for neglected diseases and development of synthetic methods using diazocompounds. He has authored/co-authored over 240 article publications in various journals, having a significant number of total citations, i.e. more than 4,210.

Dr. Enikő Forró obtained her Ph.D. from Szeged University, Hungary, under the supervision of Professor Ferenc Fülöp, in 2000. Dr. Forró was appointed full professor in 2013 in the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, at the University of Szeged,. She is head of the enzymatic laboratory, and, under her supervision, 17 diploma works and 3 Ph.D. theses have been prepared and defended successfully. She has a wide range of research interests in enzymatic chemistry, preparation of enantiomeric compounds, important from both pharmacological and chemical aspects. Until now, she has published over 120 publications, having a significant number of total citations, i.e. more than 2,160.

Prof. Chris Frost completed his Ph.D. degree with Jonathan M.J. Williams from the University of Loughborough. After his postdoctoral fellowship, he joined the Chemistry Department at the University of Bath, UK. Then, in 2011, he was promoted to Full Professor in Organic Chemistry. Research in the Frost group involves creating new chemical tools for catalysis and biosensing. Specifically, they are developing effective tandem or sequential catalytic processes to modify the structural and physicochemical properties of molecules. Current projects involve electrochemical detection of DNA, catalytic signal amplification, post-synthetic modification of oligonucleotides and exploring new concepts and selectivities in C-H activation. Prof. Frost has published over 100 papers and has presented more than 50 invited lectures.

Dr. Kumaresh Ghosh is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Kalyani, India. He did Master of Science in Chemistry in 1994 from Indian Institute Technology, Kharagpur, India and received his Ph.D degree in Supramolecular Chemistry in 1999 under the supervision of Prof. Shyamaprosad Goswami from the same institute. Prof. Ghosh is a Fellow of West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology. Due to contribution in research he received Dr. Basudev Banerjee Memorial Award- 2007 from Indian Chemical Society, Prof. D. K. Banerjee Memorial Award- 2011 from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and also Bronze Medal from Chemical Research Society of India for the year 2018. The research interests include supramolecular and macromolecular chemistry, functional organic materials, organogels and molecular probes for sensing of biologically relevant species and imaging. Effort is also given to establish new materials of practical applications.

Dr. Michael Harmata, obtained his A.B. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois, Chicago (1980). Later, he obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana (1985). Since 1986, he has been associated with University of Missouri-Columbia. Currently, he is Norman Rabjohn Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, University of Missouri-Columbia. He has received various honors and awards for his contribution to science. He has around 204 journal publications and 16 books to his credit overall.

Dr. Liang-Nian is currently a Professor of Chemistry at Nankai University, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2011. He received his Ph.D. from Nankai University in 1996. His research interests cover green chemistry, catalysis, and CO2 chemistry (CO2 activation and its chemical transformation into fuels/value-added chemicals), catalysis in green solvents and biomass conversion (castor-related energy), and green technology related to desulfurization. Dr. Liang-Nian has authored over 190 scientific publications and has 21 patents to his credit. He has also edited 12 books and chapters. He is an editor-in-chief of “Current Organic Synthesis (Bentham Science)” and he is on the editorial board of a dozens of international scientific journals.

Satoshi Horikoshi received his PhD degree in 1999, and was subsequently a postdoctoral researcher at the Frontier Research Center for the Global Environment Science until 2006. He joined Sophia University as Assistant Professor in 2006, and then moved to Tokyo University of Science as Associate Professor in 2008, after which he returned to Sophia University as Associate Professor in 2011. Currently he is Vice-President of the Japan Society of Electromagnetic Wave Energy Applications (JEMEA), and is on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Microwave Power and Electromagnetic Energy and other international journals. His research interests involve new material synthesis, molecular biology, formation of sustainable energy and environmental protection using microwave- and/or photo-energy. He has co-authored over 170 scientific publications and has contributed to and edited or co-edited 20 books.

Prof. Ivo Iavicoli obtained his degree in Medicine and his specialty in Occupational Medicine (both cum laude) at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, Italy. He completed a Ph.D. in Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene at the University of Milan. At present he is Associate Professor of Occupational Medicine at the Department of Public Health of the University of Naples ‘Federico II’. He is also Adjunct Professor at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, U.S.A. He is the author of more than 250 publications in national and international journals.

Dr. Mangalagiu is a professor of organic and medicinal chemistry and Vice-Rector with research at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania. Previously, prof. Mangalagiu served as Dean, Vice-Dean, Head of Organic Chemistry Department, etc. at the Faculty of Chemistry. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the research, focused on the area of Heterocycles Compounds. He has over 160 papers, 13 patents, 3 international chapter books, etc. He was a Visiting Professor and/or invited speaker to prestigious foreign universities (Ludwig Maximilians University Munchen and Technische Universität Braunschweig, University of Florence, Universite D’Angers), awarded with numerous prizes and honours: DAAD and NATO award, “Costin D. Nenitescu Medal” (Romanian Society of Chemistry), “Al.I.Cuza University Award in Research”, “Grand Prize Euroinvent” (Euroinvent, Romania), Special Award of Croatian Association of Inventors, etc.

Igor V. Khudyakov got his Ph.D., D.Sc., and Professor degrees from the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Moscow, USSR. He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Chemistry Department of Columbia University (CU). He is an author of 250 peer- reviewed publications. Currently Khudyakov works at CU and is an R&D Director at a chemistry company.

Prof. Gilbert Kirsch has been trained as an organic chemist at the Universities of Strasbourg and Metz, France. He started his academic carrier in 1973 at the University of Metz (now University of Lorraine), where he currently holds a position of Emeritus Professor of Organic Chemistry. He had a post-doc at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (TN) in the Nuclear Medicine Group and was also invited scientist at Kodak (Rochester, NY), at the University of Minho (Portugal) and Emory University (Atlanta, GA). His interest lies in heterocyclic chemistry in general. He has published over 200 papers, chapters in Patai’s Functionnal group series, in Houben-Weyl, in Wiley's Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds and in Springer’s Selenium and Tellurium Chemistry.

Dr. Raj Kumar (Ph.D.) is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Natural Products at the Central University of Punjab where he has been a faculty member since 2011. Dr. Raj Kumar completed his Ph.D. and M.S. (Pharm.) at National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali, India and did Postdoctoral Assistantship at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), USA. His research interests are Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Discovery, Diagnostic agents, Green Chemistry and methodology development. He has filed total 6 patents.

Dr. Vijay Kumar is a government servant and working as Scientist with Government of India. He is an internationally recognized Chemistry Scientist, who has more than seven years of groundbreaking research on various multidisciplinary issues described in over 50 publications. In his short research period he has attained very good reputation. He is a reviewer of more than 25 reputed journals and he is recognised many times for his reviewing contributions which highlights his research interest and contributions towards the science & technology and society. More significantly, in his early stage of research career, he is a member of various national and international research societies and editorial boards. He has contributed in Pharma sector, quality control, pesticides studies, environment, drug standardization, metals, nano-chemistry and natural product chemistry. He did work on burning issues like “effects of pesticides on food/ crops/ environment/ soils/ metal ions/ microorganisms.

Roman Lesyk earned his PhD in 1996 and got the habilitation for professorship in 2005 in the field of medicinal and heterocyclic chemistry. He is a professor of pharmaceutical/medicinal chemistry in Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University. During 2004-2014, he occupied pharmaceutical faculty dean’s position. Since 2015 he has been the head of the Department of Pharmaceutical, Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry. His research interests focused on 4-thiazolidinone cores within structure-based drug design, especially in the area of medicinal chemistry of anticancer and antimicrobial agents. He is an author of 350 scientific papers and 50 patents.

Dr. Lewis is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He holds the Ph.D. and D.Sc. from the University of Adelaide, South Australia. After post-doctoral study at Arkansas and Illinois, he served on the faculty of Baylor and South Dakota State University, before moving to Eau Claire. He has been Chair of the American Chemical Society's Division of the History of Chemistry, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. His research interests range from the development of site-specific fluorescent probes for live cells to the history of organic chemistry in Russia. He is the author of over 75 papers and five books, including Advanced Organic Chemistry (Oxford University Press, 2016); he holds 18 U.S. patents.

Prof. JUN F. (JAMES) LIANG became a Ph.D. in Biopolymers from NanKai University, Tianjin, China (1993). Since 2003, he has been associated with Department of Chemistry, Chemical Biology, and Biomedical Engineering Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, United States. Currently, Dr. Liang is a professor at Department of Chemistry, Chemical Biology, and Biomedical Engineering Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, United States. He has around 12 patents and 99 peer reviewed publications to his credit.

Dr. Jialei Liu obtained his Ph.D. degree (2010) in organic chemistry from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jinan, China. He is now working as an associate researcher in Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science. His research area involves synthesis of organic conjugated functional small molecules and their application in optics, electronics and drug. So far, he has published more than 80 SCI academic peer-reviewed papers, and more than 10 patents as co-inventor.

Dr. Zhe Liu is a research professor at the Wenzhou Institute of Biomaterials and Engineering (WIBE), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and is currently leading the Lab of Bio-Imaging and Translational Medicine (LBITM). In 2007, Dr. Liu obtained his doctorate of chemical biology from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS). Afterwards, he joined the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS) in School of Medicine, as a postdoctoral scholar working in the field of development of novel bioactive chelates and conjugates for melanoma diagnosis and therapy. He is now an adjunct professor in the Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University.

Prof Harri Lönnberg is the emeritus professor of organic chemistry at The University of Turku, Finland. He graduated in 1976 from the same university. He did postgraduate research on the kinetics and mechanisms of the hydrolysis of O-glycosidic bond under the supervision of Professor Alpo Kankaanperä. From 1976 to 1992, he held various research positions in the Academy of Finland. In 1992, he was appointed as the professor of organic chemistry at the University of Turku. His current research interests include studies on the recognition and cleavage of RNA, targeting of therapeutic oligonucleotides by covalent conjugation, pro-drug strategies for nucleotide drugs, and novel paradigms for large scale synthesis of oligonucleotides. His previous studies dealt with kinetics and mechanisms of the hydrolytic reactions of glycosides, nucleosides, nucleotides and oligonucleotides, solid-supported synthesis of various bioconjugates, fluorescence-based hybridization diagnostics and DNA–base modifications. He has published more than 300 scientific papers.

Professor Pedro Lozano received his PhD in Sciences (Chemistry) from the University of Murcia in 1988. He spent two years (1990-91) in the Centre de Bioingénierie Gilbert Durand, Toulouse (France) as a post-doctoral fellow, then returned to the University of Murcia (Spain) as Lecturer in Biochemistry, and was finally promoted to Full Professor in 2004. Since 2014, Prof. Lozano is a Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Murcia. His research activity has always been related to applied biocatalysis in ionic liquids and supercritical fluids. He has authored more than 130 manuscripts articles, book chapters, etc.

Rafael Luque is the Deputy Head of the Department at the Universidad de Cordoba, where he graduated in 2005. Prof. Luque has a significant experience on biomass and waste valorisation practices to materials, fuels and chemicals as well as nanoscale chemistry and green engineering, with over 270 published research articles, 3 patent applications and 8 edited books as well as numerous contributions to book chapters and invited, guest, keynote and plenary lectures in scientific events worldwide. Among recent awards, Rafael received the Marie Curie Prize from Instituto Andaluz de Quimica Fina in Spain (2011), the Green Talents award from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany (2011), the TR35 Spain from Technology Review and MIT as one of the top 10 young entrepreneurs in Spain (2012) and very recently the RSC Environment, Sustainability and Energy Early Career Award (2013) from the Royal Society of Chemistry UK and the 2015 Lu Jiaxi lectureship from the College of Chemistry and Engineering in Xiamen University (China).

Dr. Ma is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University. He has been working on heterogeneous catalysis, environmental catalysis, and nanocatalysis for 18 years. He got a Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Ma has authored 108 journal publications, 10 book chapters, and over 100 popular articles on newspapers/magazines. He is also a reviewer of over 70 journals and he is an editorial board member of 5 journals.

Dr. Susan received her B Pharm from the University of Nottingham in 1991. She was qualified as a Pharmacist (RPSGB) in 1992 before receiving her Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Bath in 1995. She gained Post-Doctoral experience at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Prague (Royal Society European Fellowship), Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Mainz and the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford before taking up the Kinerton Lectureship of Organic Chemistry at Trinity College, Dublin. She joined the School in April 2003 as Lecturer of Medicinal Chemistry and was promoted to Senior lecturer in 2008. She is currently the Chair at the University South East Asia Dialogue Group and was the Associate Dean for Admissions for the Faculty of Science during 2011 to 2016.

Dr. Grzegorz Mloston completed chemistry studies from the University of Łódź, Poland, and subsequently prepared the Ph.D. thesis entitled ‘Reactions of Phenylmethylene with Imines’ under the supervision of Prof. R. Bartnik. Since 1998, he occupies the position of full-professor at the University of Łódź since 1998. In the period of 2012 to 2016, he served as the academic community as the Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry. His research interest is mainly focused on modern organic synthesis, organocatalysis, heteroatom chemistry, organic chemistry of sulfur, fluorine organic chemistry, reactive intermediates, and organic reaction mechanisms. Dr. Mloston, as an author/co-author, has published over 300 articles in various journals, having a significant number of total citations, i.e. more than 3,970.

Prof. Dr. Thierry Ollevier, obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry at the University of Namur, Belgium, in 1991. He obtained his B.Sc. (1991) and Ph.D. (1997) at the Université de Namur, Belgium. After an Assistant Professor appointment (2001) at the Université Laval, Québec (Canada), he became Associate (2006) and is currently a Full Professor. Current research in his group aims at designing novel catalysts, developing catalytic reactions and applying these methods to chemical synthesis. He is active in the areas of Lewis acids, asymmetric catalysis, organic chemistry in aqueous conditions, and green synthetic chemistry. He has 75 publications comprising 53 research articles, 20 encyclopedia articles, and 2 conference proceedings. Besides, he has 3 book chapters, and 1 book to his credit.

Professor Helen Osborn obtained a BA in Chemistry from the University of Oxford (1991), followed by a PhD in Organic and Biological Chemistry from the University of Bristol (1994). She then undertook post-doctoral research with Professor Steve Ley at the University of Cambridge before embarking on her independent career at the University of Reading (1996). She is currently a Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the School of Pharmacy, University of Reading. She has extensive research expertise in the synthesis and biological analysis of carbohydrates, and their analogues, as well as medicinal chemistry aligned to anti-cancer and anti-bacterial strategies. She has published more than 70 original research papers in international peer reviewed journals.

Hélène Pellissier carried out her PhD under the supervision of Dr G. Gil in Marseille, France in 1987. Her work was focused on the reactivity of isocyanides. In 1988, she joined the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) as a researcher. After a postdoctoral period in Professor K. P. C. Vollhardt’s group at the University of California, Berkeley, she joined the group of Professor M. Santelli in Marseille in 1992, where she focused on the chemistry of 1,8-bis(trimethylsilyl)-2,6-octadiene and its application to the development of novel very short total syntheses of steroids starting from 1,3-butadiene and benzocyclobutenes. She is currently chargée de recherche (CNRS) at Aix-Marseille Université.

José R. Pérez-Correa received the BSc and MSc degrees in Chemical Engineering in 1982 from the University of Chile. In 1987 he was awarded the Diploma of the Imperial College and a PhD degree from the University of London, both in Chemical Engineering. Prof. Pérez-Correa was appointed Full Professor at the Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering Department of the Catholic University of Chile in 2011. His research interests include extraction and purification of natural products, as well as optimization of chemical processes and bioprocesses. He has published over 90 ISI papers and more than 30 book chapters.

Arthur Ragauskas held the first Fulbright Chair in Alternative Energy and is a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Academy of Wood Science and TAPPI. In 2014, he assumed a Governor’s Chair for Biorefining based in University of Tennessee’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, with a complementary appointment in the UT Institute of Agriculture’s Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries and serves in the US Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate, Biosciences Division, at ORNL. His research program is directed at understanding and exploiting innovative sustainable bioresources for biofuels, and bio-based materials and chemicals.

Dr. Olivier Renaudet received his Ph.D. degree in 2002 in the field of peptide and carbohydrate chemistry from the Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France. Thereafter, he pursued postdoctoral researches in the group of Prof. J.-L. Reymond from the University of Berne (Switzerland) then he returned to Grenoble to obtain an Assistant Professor (2004) and a full Professor positions (2012) at the Department of Molecular Chemistry. He has co-edited a themed issue on “Multivalent Scaffolds in Glycoscience” published in the Chemical Society Reviews (RSC Publishing) in 2013. His current research activities focus on the development of multi-click approaches to synthesize multi-functional homo- and heteroglycoclusters as antitumoral synthetic vaccines, nanovectors or anti-pathogenic agents.

Prof. Patrick Rollin is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of Orléans, France. His prime interests in chemistry involve Thiochemistry of sugars and chemistry of thio-sugars, use of uncommon thio-functions in regio- and stereocontrolled glycochemistry, phytochemistry and Glycerol chemistry. Prof. Rollin has authored/co-authored over 190 article publications in various journals, having a significant number of total citations, i.e. more than 2,895. Furthermore, he has been the elected representative of France in the European Carbohydrate Organisation (2003-2009), member of the French National Council of the Universities - Commission 32 (2004-2007), besides, he is also registered in the Albo dei Revisori of the Italian MIUR (since 2003), etc.

Dr. Thomas Rosenau received his doctorate from Dresden University of Technology, Germany, and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA, and his habilitation in organic chemistry from BOKU University Vienna, Austria. He is currently professor at BOKU University, holding the Chair of Wood, Pulp and Fiber Chemistry and heading the Division of Chemistry of Renewable Resources. He is also adjunct professor of fiber science at Shinshu University, Japan and adjunct professor at the Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Center at Abo Akademi Turku, Finland. Dr. Rosenau has published more than 310 scientific articles, several book chapters, and 14 patents.

Vincent Rotello is the Goessmann Professor of Chemistry and University Distinguished Professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He joined UMass in 1993, and received the NSF CAREER, Cottrell Scholar and Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar awards, the Sloan Fellowship, and the Langmuir Lectureship, the RSC Bioorganic Lecturer, and is a Fellow of the AAAS and the Royal Society of Chemistry (U.K.) He is also the Editor in Chief of Bioconjugate Chemistry. His research program focuses on engineering the interface between hard and soft materials, with > 480 peer-reviewed publications to date.

Claudio Santi received the PhD in Chemical Sciences from the University of Perugia under the supervision of Prof. Marcello Tiecco. Currently, he is a professor of Organic Chemistry and teaches the courses of Spectroscopy for Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry of Natural Compounds. He leads the group of Catalysis and Organic Green Chemistry in the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and is a worldwide recognized expert in organoselenium chemistry. His research interest ranges from the application of selenium reagents in green chemistry to the development of new orgaselenium containing drugs. He is author of more than 130 publications including review articles and book chapters.

Dr Hongwei Shi is currently an Associate Professor at the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMR), obtained a PhD degree in Environmental Corrosion Center in IMR in 2008. Until now, Dr Shi has been in charge of more than 10 research projects. His h- index is 17. His research interests include polymer chemistry, nanocomposite coatings, smart coatings, anticorrosion techniques, corrosion and degradation of coatings.

Dr. Carlos Manuel Santos Silva did Licentiate Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto in 1992. Later, he did his PhD from Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto in 1998. Currently, he is assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro. Dr. Silva has around 105 peer reviewed scientific journal publications, 2 book chapters and 2 patents in his portfolio.

Armando J. D. Silvestre (http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5403-8416). PhD in Chemistry (1994), Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro and CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials. He is the leader of CICECO Research Group on Biorefineries, Biobased Materials and recycling. His research interests are centered on the valorization of plant biomass, involving chemical characterization, new extraction processes, biological activity of extracts for nutraceutical applications: His research interests also address the development of new biobased polyesters mainly from 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and (nano)composite materials, notably from (nano)cellulose fibers. He is the author of 240 papers, with more than 4800 citations, and an h index =36. He has to his credit 15 book chapters and 4 patents. He has participated in more than 30 national and EU funded projects.

Dr. Simranjeet Singh currently works as Project Scientist at Punjab Biotechnology Incuabtors, Mohali. His research interest includes the exploration of efficient strategies for the bioremediation and phytoremediation of pollutants from water and soil. His research activities are directed towards designing and developing biosensors for the detection of various contaminants in different matrices and use of natural products in the adsorption of different contaminants from wastewater. He has published more than 40 research and review articles in peer-reviewed journals and 8 book chapters. Dr. Simranjeet Singh completed his PhD. in Biotechnology from Department of Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, India.

Professor Sugai Takeshi did his bachelors in Organic Chemistry from The University of Tokyo Faculty of Agriculture in 1981. He also did his masters from The University of Tokyo Graduate School, Division of Agricultural Science in 1983. Later, he was enrolled into doctorate course of The University of Tokyo Graduate School, Division of Agricultural Science but withdrew without completion in 1984. His research areas are (a) Organic Chemistry (b) Synthetic Chemistry (c) Catalyst and Chemical Process (d) Bioengineering (e) Biological Productive Chemistry and Bioorganic Chemistry. Currently, he is a Professor (Faculty of Pharmacy) in Keio University. Prof. Takeshi has various scientific publications in the area of chemistry and his contribution to science is noteworthy.

Mike Threadgill is Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Bath. He has nearly forty years of experience in medicinal chemistry and drug design, focussing mainly on cancer. Previously, he held positions at Roche Products Ltd. (part of Hoffman-La Roche), Aston University and the MRC Radiobiology Unit. His qualifications include MA (University of Cambridge), PGCE (University of Durham), PhD (University of Cambridge) and DSc (University of Bath). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Honorary Fellow of the Indian Society of Chemists & Biologists and Vice-President of the Groupement des Pharmacochimistes de l’Arc Atlantique.

Prof. Kiyoshi Tomioka is a Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts, Kyoto, Japan, and Emeritus Professor of Kyoto University, Japan. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1976. He has been a Professor at Kyoto University since 1996 for 14 years before moving to Doshisha. His research interests are in synthetic organic chemistry, asymmetric synthesis, organometallic chemistry, and molecular architecture. He became Fellow of The Royal Society of Chemistry (2016). He has authored/co-authored over 270 article publications in various journals, having a very significant number of total citations, i.e. more than 9,325.

Dr. HONG-BO WANG, obtained his B. Sc. in Applied Chemistry, Huazhong Agricultural University, China (2003). He did M.S. in Organic Chemistry, Central China Normal University, China (2006). He became a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada (2011). Since 2015, Dr. Wang is a Professor of Chemistry in Jianghan University, Wuhan, China. His research interests lie in areas of Supramolecular Polymers and Organic Porous Materials for Biomass Energy Storage. He has received numerous honors and awards. Dr. Wang has around 18 publications to his portfolio so far.

Dr. Valentin Wittmann obtained a PhD from the Technical University of Munich (Germany). Subsequently, he carried out postdoctoral research at the Goethe-University of Frankfurt (Germany) and at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California (USA). In 1997, he returned to Frankfurt to start independent research. Since 2003, he is a professor of organic/bioorganic chemistry at the University of Konstanz (Germany). From 2006 to 2011, he was Dean of Studies and since 2016, he has been the head of the Department of Chemistry. His main research area is the chemical biology of carbohydrates including metabolic glycoengineering, investigation of multivalent carbohydrate-protein interactions, and RNA-targeting antibiotics.

Dr. Peng Zhan obtained his Ph.D. degree (2010) in medicinal chemistry from Shandong University, Jinan, China. He is now working as an associate professor in Shandong University. His research area involves discovery of novel antiviral, anticancer and neurodegenerative diseases-related agents based on the rational drug design approaches. So far, he has published more than 70 SCI academic peer-reviewed papers, and more than 20 patents as co-inventor. He received the first prize of Shandong Province Science and Technology Innovation Achievement excellent graduate Award in 2010, CPA-Servier Young Investigator Awards in Medicinal Chemistry in 2016, and many other honors and awards.

Prof. Weiping Zhang obtained his PhD in physical chemistry at Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2000. From 2000 till 2004, he was a postdoctoral fellow at ETH, Zurich and National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa. Then he returned to DICP where he became an associate professor in 2005 and professor in 2006. In 2011, he moved to Dalian University of Technology, China as a full professor. His research interests are in situ NMR and catalytic mechanisms of organic reactions. He has over 70 peer-reviewed publications to his credit.

Dr. Zhao is a full professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at San Antonio. He holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Würzburg (Germany) and MS in organic chemistry from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China). Dr. Zhao has more than 20 years of research experience in synthetic methodology development, asymmetric catalysis, oxidation, and synthesis. In these areas, he has published more than 90 papers and a monograph. Dr. Zhao previously served twice as an Associate Editor for Organic Reactions and is currently serving as an editorial board member for several chemistry journals.

Jian Zhou is currently a Professor at East China Normal University. He obtained his Ph.D from Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, CAS, in 2004. His research interests focus on the development of new methodologies to construct fully substituted carbon stereocenters. He has published more than sixty papers in international peer-reviewed journals, and a written a book with Wiley.

Dr Vasu Dhananjayan received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan in 2011. He did his postdoctoral studies in several leading institutes like the University of Oxford, Kyoto University and KAIST. He currently serves as a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University, USA in the field of central nervous system disorders under the supervision of Prof. Richard B. Silverman. He has received several awards and fellowships during his research career. In particular, the award GATE, CSIR-NET from India and JSPS, Marie-Curie fellowships from Japan and the European Commission (UK). His research interest covers the areas of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Organometallic Chemistry, Functionalization of Carbon-Hydrogen and Carbon-Sulfur Bonds, Asymmetric Catalysis, Cascade Reactions, Organic Methodology, Total Synthesis, Alkaloids and Natural Product Synthesis.

Santanu Panja completed his B.Sc with Honours in Chemistry from Asutosh College, University of Calcutta. He then received an M.Sc. degree specialising in organic chemistry in 2011. After qualifying for the national eligibility test (NET) jointly conducted by UGC and CSIR, Govt. of India, successively in 2010 and 2011, he joined University of Kalyani to pursue doctoral research on supramolecular chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Kumaresh Ghosh. After completion of his Ph.D in 2017, Santanu joined the Université de Bordeaux as research associate (research adviser: Prof. Philippe Barthélémy). Presently, he is working at the University of Glasgow as a Newton Research Fellow under the mentorship of Prof. Dave Adams. His research interest covers the area of supramolecular chemistry, specifically gel chemistry.

Dr. Changhai Xu is currently a full professor at Jiangnan University. He obtained his Ph.D from North Carolina State University (USA) in 2009. His research interests focus on chemistry pertaining to textiles, especially synthesis of dyestuffs and chemical auxiliaries. He has published more than forty papers in international peer-reviewed journals. He currently serves as the associate director of the Key Laboratory of Eco-textiles at Ministry of Education, China.

Dr. Atmanli obtained his PhD degree (2013) in mechanical engineering from Balikesir University. He carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Texas at Austin for 1 year and his postdoctoral research includes the biofuel production from algae. He is currently an Associate Professor in automotive engineering at the National Defense University, Istanbul, Turkey. He has published 22 SCI articles and serves as a reviewer of well-reputed journals. His most influential research has been centred upon the optimization of alternative fuel production, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and internal combustion engines.

Dr. Ravi Kumar received his Ph.D. in 2005 from Kurukshetra University. He began his career as a Lecturer in Chemistry in 2004 from the same university and then moved to Dyal Singh College, Karnal in 2008. He worked at the School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Wales (UK) in Prof Thomas Wirth group in the area of asymmetric synthesis using chiral hypervalent iodine reagents. He was presented with many awards and fellowships including, DST-SERC Young Scientist Research Grants under fast track scheme in 2012 and 2007, Indian National Science Academy (INSA)-Visiting Scientist fellowship in 2012, Dr. Lata Memorial Young Scientist Award in 2009, Goyal Prize (2000) and Kurukshetra University Medal (2000). His major research interests involve the development of novel transformations including asymmetric synthesis using hypervalent iodine reagents/catalysts. His research interests also include the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds of potential medicinal interest. He has co-authored 28 research publications and presented his research results in various national conferences/seminars.

Dr. Tingbin Li received his Ph.D. in Materials Science from Shan Dong University, China in 2006. He is currently a full professor at Taishan University. His research interests focus on finding novel materials with excellent third-order nonlinear optical properties. He has published a series of papers in international peer-reviewed journals and serves as a reviewer of well-reputed journals.

Dr. Simoes Dos Reis is a materials scientist who holds a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering (2017) and masters and a bachelor's in Environmental engineering. Dr. Simoes Dos Reis has an interest in preparation, and characterization of biomaterials for wastewater treatment, wastes management and reuse, CO2 through carbonation process, etc. In his short scientific career he has published 30 articles and serves as reviewer of 25 international journals.

Dr. Peng Zhan obtained his Ph.D. degree (2010) in medicinal chemistry from Shandong University, Jinan, China. He is now working as an associate professor in Shandong University. His research area involves discovery of novel antiviral, anticancer and neurodegenerative diseases-related agents based on the rational drug design approaches. So far, he has published more than 70 SCI academic peer-reviewed papers, and more than 20 patents as co-inventor. He received the first prize of Shandong Province Science and Technology Innovation Achievement excellent graduate Award in 2010, CPA-Servier Young Investigator Awards in Medicinal Chemistry in 2016, and many other honors and awards.