Bio-based nitrogen-containing chemicals encompass a wide range of high-value-added products, including amino acids, alkaloids, nitrogen-containing platform molecules, and functional amines. They are widely used inthefine chemicals sector, including pharmaceuticals, pesticides, functional materials, and food additives. Compared with conventional petrochemical routes, bio-based routes consume less energy, generate lower carbon emissions, and offer higher synthetic selectivity. They represent an important direction for the green transformation of the fine chemicals industry and exemplify the renewed vitality of nitrogen chemistry in the 21st century. Professor Zhang Zehui of SCMU has long focused on the green manufacturing of bio-based organic nitrogen-containing chemicals. Recently, he was invited to publish a research article in the internationally renowned review journalAccounts of Chemical Research(2026,59,2662-2678), systematically presenting his research group's progress in converting biomass-derived platform molecules into bio-based nitrogen-containing chemicals.
Recently, Professor Zhang and his collaborators published two consecutive research papers in the internationally leading chemistry journalAngewandte Chemie International Edition(Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.), continuing their focus on the green manufacturing of bio-based organic nitrogen-containing chemicals and pharmaceutical molecules containing C=N and C≡N bonds.
On September 26,Angewandte Chemie International Editionpublished online the collaborative research of Professor Zhang Zehui and Professor Li Hu of Guizhou University (paper link: https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.). In the study, a mesoporous NaY zeolite-encapsulated atomically dispersed cobalt catalyst (Co@NaY-M) was deliberately designed. By ingeniously using sodium ions at adjacent positions within the cage-like zeolite structure as "electronic promoters", the two-component synthesis system based on alcohols and nitrogen sources was extended to a three-component cascade synthesis system involving alcohols, acids, and nitrogen sources. This enabled the one-pot cascade synthesis of a diverse range of 3,4-unsubstituted quinolines and pharmaceutical molecules, covering more than 80 examples, thereby expanding the boundaries of biorefining.
On September 27, the journal published online the collaborative research of Professor Zhang Zehui and Professor Ke Qingping of Anhui University of Technology (paper link: https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.). In the study, a solvent-free crystallization strategy was used to prepare a dual-anion (C/N) doped manganese oxide catalyst (C/N-MnOx), in which carbon-doping induced oxygen vacancies adsorb and activate O2, while Lewis acidic Mn-N sites generated by nitrogen doping capture NH3. Through a relay catalysis mechanism, the catalyst enabled the oxidative conversion of alcohols and ammonia into nitriles under ambient temperature and pressure.
Professor Zhang Zehui is a doctoral supervisor, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a recipient of the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars, the principal investigator of National Key Research and Development Program Strategic Priority Projects, and a recipient of the Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation Young Teacher Award supported by the Ministry of Education. In addition, Professor Zhang has received multiple scientific and technological honors, including the Second Prize of the Hubei Provincial Natural Science Award and the Second Prize of the Science and Technology Award of the Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China. In recent years, he has published a series of significant research findings in leading domestic and international journals, including Nat. Commun., Sci. Adv., Chem, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Adv. Mater., Chem. Soc. Rev. and Acc. Chem. Res., exerting considerable influence in the fields of biomass catalytic conversion and green chemistry.
Editor-in-charge: Liu Qiong Reviewed by: Lei Changsheng Uploaded by: Liu Hong Release Date: September 30, 2026
