Recently, the Research Center for Chiral Drug Innovation of the College of Pharmacy, Chengdu University (CDU) published its latest research findings entitled Direct Acylation of Unactivated Alkyl Halides with Aldehydes through N-Heterocyclic Carbene Organocatalysis in the top international chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie (Journal in Zone 1 of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, IF: 16.6), with CDU as the first affiliation. Both Li Qingzhu, a distinguished Research Fellow, and Zeng Rong, a graduate student enrolled in 2017 at the College of Pharmacy, were the co-first authors of the paper. Professor Li Junlong was the corresponding author. In addition, other members of the team, including Jin Xinhang, an undergraduate student enrolled in 2020 at the College of Pharmacy, also made significant contributions.

The primary focus of this research is the direct acylation of unactivated alkyl halides with aldehydes using N-heterocyclic carbene organocatalysis. The process has used green and highly efficient organic small molecule catalysts. The research findings have significantly enriched the scope of application for N-heterocyclic carbene catalysis (as shown in the figure below). This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Innovation Research Group of the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province, the R&D Program for Key Areas of Guangdong Province, and CDU Research Initiation Program.

It is reported that the Angewandte Chemie (German Applied Chemistry, Online ISSN: 1521-3773), is one of the renowned flagship journals under Wiley-VCH, the top journal of SCI Zone I of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is included in the Nature Index and ranked as a world-class international journal in the field of chemistry. The Angewandte Chemie focuses on the publication of highly innovative research papers and has an impact factor of 16.6 in 2023.