During the traditional petrochemical era, unsaturated hydrocarbon compounds (such as alkenes, alkynes, and aromatics) derived from basic petrochemical resources like coal, petroleum, and natural gas through chemical processing and refining served as fundamental raw materials for organic synthesis (Figure 1, left). The relatively low π-bond energy in these unsaturated hydrocarbons enables easy coordination and activation with metal catalysts. Their transformation chemistry has been extensively studied by organic chemists, yielding fruitful achievements that have provided abundant functional chemicals for human societal development. With the increasing depletion of petrochemical resources and the advancement of China's "Dual Carbon" strategy, there is an urgent need to shift the primary feedstocks for organic synthesis from petrochemical-based unsaturated hydrocarbons to biomass platform molecules (Figure 1, right). This project aims to focus on developing novel and value-added transformation pathways for carboxylic acid platform molecules. It seeks to achieve rapid construction of functional carboxylic acid molecular databases and complete deoxygenation conversion of carboxylic acid molecules, while exploring high-value, precise, green, and efficient organic synthesis methods along with applications for biomass-derived carboxylic acids. The research will provide scientific support for realizing the "Dual Carbon" objectives.

The research group will employ transition-metal catalysis to design novel ligands and develop new catalytic systems, aiming to achieve three innovative reaction modes for carboxylic acids: 1) Developing new ligands to expand the scope of meta-functionalization reactions in aryl carboxylic acids; 2) Exploring efficient catalytic systems to enable divergent coupling of alkenyl carboxylic acids. Building on these advancements, the team plans to rapidly construct a functional carboxylic acid molecular database. 3) Creating a groundbreaking strategy for complete deoxygenation conversion of carboxylic acids to facilitate rapid construction of three distinct chemical bonds at the carbon center.