PhD & Postdoc

Li Wei Zhang

Synthetic Chemistry · ETH Zurich

Li Wei Zhang is a PhD candidate in Synthetic Chemistry at ETH Zurich, supervised by Prof. Erick Carreira. His thesis develops enantioselective total synthesis routes to bioactive alkaloids via novel palladium and iridium-catalysed C-H activation strategies, producing target natural products in fewer steps than prior art. Twelve publications including six first-author contributions in JACS and Angewandte Chemie demonstrate his synthetic productivity. Two provisional PCT patent applications covering catalyst scaffolds have been filed with ETHZ tech transfer. Novartis has provided unrestricted research funding and hosted Li Wei for a twelve-week medicinal chemistry placement. He is among the most cited PhD-stage chemists in catalytic asymmetric synthesis.

Thesis Topic

Asymmetric synthesis of bioactive alkaloids via transition-metal C-H activation catalysis

Transition Signals