RESEARCH INTERESTS:
My research interests focus on the design and synthesis of unusual low-coordinated main group compounds containing silicon and germanium- elements and their application in small molecule activation (such as H2, CO2 and N2).
EDUCATION AND ACADEMIC CAREER:
07/2022–Present: Professor, Sichuan University (SCU), China
04/2019–05/2022 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Kay Severin
01/2019–03/2019 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany, Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller
07/2015–12/2018 Ph.D. (Summa Cum Laude), Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany, Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller
09/2012–06/2015 M.Sc., Hangzhou Normal University, China, Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Zhifang Li
HONORS AND AWARDS:
1. 2018 Best PhD Dissertation Award, Awarded by Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany
2. 2017 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad, Awarded by China scholarship council (CSC), China
3. 2015 Georg-Lichtenberg-Promotionsstipendien, PhD-Scholarship supported by the State of Lower Saxony, Germany
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
1. Paul Varava; Zhaowen Dong, Rosario Scopelliti, Farzaneh Fadaei-Tirani, Kay Severin*, Isolation and Characterization of Diazoolefins, Nat. Chem. 2021, 13, 1055−1060. (highlighted in Nat. Chem. 2021, 13, 1030–1032)
2. Zhaowen Dong, Jan Mathis Winkler, Marc Schmidtmann, Thomas Müller*, Three-membered Cyclic Digermylenes Stabilized by an N-heterocyclic Carbene, Chem. Sci. 2021, 12, 6287−6292. (featured on the inside cover; selected as 2021 Chemical Science HOT article; highlighted in ChemistryViews)
3. Zhaowen Dong, Lena Albers, Thomas Müller*, Trialkylsilyl-Substituted Silole and Germole D ianions as Precursors for Unusual Silicon and Germanium Compounds, Acc. Chem. Res. 2020, 53, 532−543.
4. Zhaowen Dong, Cristian Pezzato, Andrzej Sienkiewicz, Rosario Scopelliti, Farzaneh Fadaei Tirani, Kay Severin*, SET Processes in Lewis Acid–Base Reactions: The Tritylation of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes, Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 7615−7618.
5. Zhaowen Dong, Katja Bedbur, Marc Schmidtmann, Thomas Müller*, Hafnocene-based Bicyclo[2.1.1]hexene Germylenes–Formation, Reactivity, and Structural Flexibility, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140, 3052−3060.
6. Zhaowen Dong, Hanna H. Cramer, Marc Schmidtmann, Lucas A. Paul, Inke Siewert, Thomas Müller*, Evidence for Single Electron Shift in a Lewis Acid Base Reaction, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 15419−15424. (featured on the supplementary cover; highlighted in Nachr. Chem.)
7. Zhaowen Dong, Oliver Janka, Jutta Koesters, Marc Schmidtmann, Thomas Müller*, A Dimeric η1, η5-Germole Dianion Bridged Titanium(III) Complex with a Multicenter Ti-Ge-Ge-Ti Bond, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 8634−8638.
8. Patrik. Tholen, Zhaowen Dong, Marc Schmidtmann, Lena Albers, Thomas. Müller*, A Neutral η5-Aminoborole Complex of Germanium(II), Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 13319–13324.
9. Zhaowen Dong, Crispin R. W. Reinhold, Marc Schmidtmann, Thomas Müller*, A Stable Silylene with a σ2, π-Butadiene Ligand, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 7117−7123.
10. Zhaowen Dong, Crispin R. W. Reinhold, Marc Schmidtmann, Thomas Müller*, A Germylene Stabilized by Homoconjugation, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 15899−15904.
11. Xu-Qiong Xiao#, Zhaowen Dong# (co-first author), Zhifang Li*, Chenting Yan, Guoqiao Lai, Mitsuo Kira*, 1,3-D iazasilabicyclo[1.1.0]butane with a Long Bridging N-N Bond, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 3758−3762.
12. Zhaowen Dong*, Andrzej Sienkiewicz, Abdusalom A. Suleymanov, Cesare Berton, Farzaneh Fadaei-Tirani, Rosario Scopelliti, Kay Severin*, A Mesoionic Diselenolene Anion and the Corresponding Radical Dianion, Chem. Eur. J. 2022, 28, e20220089.
13. Zhaowen Dong, J. Terence Blaskovits, Farzaneh Fadaei-Tirani, Rosario Scopelliti, Andrzej Sienkiewicz, Clémence Corminboeuf*, Kay Severin*, Tuning the π-Accepting Properties of Mesoionic Carbenes: A Combined Computational and Experimental Study, Chem. Eur. J. 2021, 27, 11983-11988.
14. Zhaowen Dong, Marc Schmidtmann, Thomas Müller*, Potassium Salts of 2,5‐Bis(trimethylsily l)‐Germolide: Switching between Aromatic and Non‐Aromatic States, Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 10858−10865. (selected as hot paper and featured on the front cover)
15. Zhaowen Dong, Lena Albers, Marc Schmidtmann, Thomas Müller*, A Germacalicene: Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity, Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 1098−1105. (selected as hot paper)
16. Zhaowen Dong, Crispin R. W. Reinhold, Marc Schmidtmann, Thomas Müller*, Trialkylsilyl-Substituted Silole and Germole Dianions, Organometallics 2018, 37, 4736−4743.
17. Zhaowen Dong, Zhifang Li*, Xupeng Liu, Chenting Yan, Ningka Wei, Mitsuo Kira*, Thomas Müller*, Dihydrogen Splitting Using Dialkylsilylene-Based Frustrated Lewis Pairs, Chem. Asian J. 2017, 12, 1204−1207 (special issue on advances in silicon chemistry and featured on the back cover).
18. Zhaowen Dong, Marc Schmidtmann, Thomas Müller*, Reactivity of a Bicyclo[2.1.1]hexene Germylene towards Elemental Chalcogens, Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2018, 644, 1041–1046.
19. Zhaowen Dong, Xuqiong Xiao, Zhifang Li*, Qiong Lu, Guoqiao Lai, Mitsuo Kira*, Elusive 2H-1,2-Oxasiletes Through Reactions of an Isolable Dialkylsilylene with Diazocarbonyl Compounds, Org. Biomol. Chem. 2015, 13, 9471−9476.
20. Bastiaan Kooij, Zhaowen Dong, Paul Varava, Farzaneh Fadaei-Tirani, Rosario Scopelliti, Laura Piveteau and Kay Severin*, Vanadium Complexes with N-Heterocyclic Vinylidene Ligands, Chem. Commun., 2022, 58, 4204–4207.
21. Hong Zhang, Felix Thomas Eickemeyer, Zhaowen Dong, Jovana V. Milić*, Michael Grätzel*, Multimodal Host–Guest Complexation for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Photovoltaics, Nat. Commun. 2021, 12, 3383–3393.
22. Shaofeng Pang,* Fangfang Liu, Yujing Zhang, Zhaowen Dong, Qiong Su, Wenfang Wang, Zhenhua Li, Feng Zhou, and Yanbin Wang*, Construction of Functional Superhydrophobic Biochars as Hydrogen Transfer Catalysts for Dehydrogenation of N-Heterocycles, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 9062–9077.
23. Abdusalom A. Suleymanov, Eliott Le Du, Zhaowen Dong, Bastian Muriel, Rosario Scopelliti, Farzaneh Fadaei-Tirani, Jeróme Waser,* and Kay Severin*, Triazene-Activated Donor–Acceptor Cyclopropanes: Ring-Opening and (3+2) Annulation Reactions, Org. Lett. 2020, 11, 4517−4522.
24. Crispin R. W. Reinhold, Zhaowen Dong, Jan M. Winkler, Henning Steinert, Marc Schmidtmann, and Thomas Meller*, A One-Step Germole to Silole Transformation and a Stable Isomer of a Disilabenzene, Chem. Eur. J. 2018, 24, 848−854.
25. Xupeng Liu, Xuqiong Xiao, Zheng Xu, Xiuming Yang, Zhifang Li*, Zhaowen Dong, Chengting Yan, Guoqiao Lai, Mitsuo Kira*, Reactions of an Isolable Dialkylsilylene with Carbon Dioxide and Related Heterocumulenes, Organometallics 2014, 33, 5434−5439.
