15
2014

March 2014
Issue #15

CONTENTSMEXT Project of Integrated Research on Chemical Synthesis 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
The 15th & 16th Joint Seminar, Nagoya University and University of Münster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
Integrative Graduate Education and Research Program in Green Natural Sciences . . . . . . . . .  6
The 10th Hirata Memorial Lecture andthe ITbM-IGER International Nagoya Symposium on Transformative Synthesis . . . . . . . . . .  7
Visiting Professors 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
New Faculty Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
RCMS Seminars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
German Students from University of Münster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
Report from the Chemical Instrumentation Facility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
Visits to the Chemistry Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
Awards list 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
This Year’s Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
Staff List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
This newsletter is also available in PDF format from the RCMS homepage(ihttp://www.rcms.nagoya-u.ac.jp/).

RCMS NEWSMEXT Project of Integrated Researchon Chemical Synthesis 2013
In 2013, MEXT Project of Integrated Research on Chemical Synthesis, a pioneering synthesis of a new scientificbase and nurturing the next generation of researchers (Hokkaido University Catalysis Research Center, Nagoya
University Research Center for Materials Science, Kyoto University International Research Center for Elements
Science Institute for Chemical Research, Kyushu University Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering) held
the symposium and forum below.
The 4th Young Researchers Forum(Nagoya, June 28–29, 2013)

Chair, Assoc. Prof. Shimizu

Group photo

Guest speaker, Dr. Sato, Toyota Central R&D Labs

The 4th Symposium on MEXT Project of Integrated Research on Chemical Synthesis(Hokkaido University, October 31 – November 1, 2013)

Opening remarks, Prof. Ueda

Prof. Kanai, Tokyo Univ.

Prof. Hishikawa, Nagoya Univ.

2

Prof. Hosono, Tokyo Tec. Univ.

Poster session

The 3rd International Conference on MEXT Project of Integrated Research on Chemical Synthesis(Kyusyu University, January 10–11, 2014)

Prof. Takahara, Director of IMCE

Prof. Matyjaszewski, USA

Prof. Kertesz, USA

Poster session

Dr. Chan, Taiwan

Prof. Woerpel, USA
The 7th Forum*************************************************************************[Symposium and Forum in 2014]*The 4th International Conference on MEXT Project of Integrated Research on Chemical Synthesis in Kyoto(July 10–11, 2014)*The 5th Symposium on MEXT Project of Integrated Research on Chemical Synthesis in Nagoya (December
19–20, 2014)*The 5th Young Researchers Forum in Hokkaido
3

RCMS NEWSThe 15th · 16th University of
Münster · Nagoya University Joint Seminars
The 2013 University of Münster · Nagoya University Japan-Germany Joint Seminars were held on the dates
listed below. As a successor of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science’s (JSPS) “Japanese-German Graduate
Externship” program, these seminars function in the same vein as the “Strategic Young Researcher Overseas Visits
Program for Accelerating Brain Circulation” as excellent opportunities for both Japanese and German postdoctoral
students as well as students in the doctoral course to confirm and verify the state of progress of developing joint
research while actively dispatched.

[15th Japan-Germany Joint Seminar]
May 20–21, 2013 (Monday – Tuesday) at Nagoya University
German Participants: 4 Faculty and 7 Students (Oral Presentations)Japanese Participants: 5 Faculty and 4 Students (Oral Presentations), 30 Poster Presentations

Yamaguchi, student

Poster session

Group photo4[16th Japan-Germany Joint Seminar]
November 11–12, 2013 (Monday – Tuesday) at University of Münster
Japanese Participants: 8 Faculty, 1 Post doc and 4 Students (Oral Presentations)
German Participants: 3 Faculty, 2 Post doc and 6 Students (Oral Presentations), 19 Poster Presentations

Dr. Omachi

Discussion in Münster

In Münster[Mini Piano Concert by Japanese Students]
At the 15th Joint Seminar, a mini piano concert by Japanese students was held. Using the grand piano in theChemistry Lounge on the 2nd floor of the Noyori Materials Science Laboratory, at the site of the poster exhibition,
the performers were able to show others their own characteristic piano playing.

Nanjo, student

Nishimoto, student

5

RCMS NEWS

Integrative Graduate Education and Research Programin Green Natural Sciences (IGER)
In 2011, the Program for Leading Graduate Schools was adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT), built on three pillars: ① practicing cutting-edge fundamental natural science
research, ② completion of sufficient coursework to enable that research, and ③ graduate school literacy education(English training, studying abroad, skill seminars, etc.). Based on these, the program aims to nurture the “scientificability and social skills to view situations from a broad perspective,” “developmental ability to extract practicalresults from fundamental research,” and “active international citizenship on a global scale,” along with fostering“corporate researchers cultivated as seeds in industry,” “academic researchers raised in the scholarly domain,” and“environmental coordinators and mentors active throughout global society” that will carry the environmental fieldsof the next generation.
Some activities of our program are introduced as follows;
Annual Meeting: The Annual Meeting was held on January 8th. Five activities, “Research at foreign research
institution”, “Female Top Leader Promotion Program”, “Internship”, “International Education Project” and “Short
Leadership Program at North Carolina” were reported. In addition, many participants viewed and discussed around
180 posters exhibiting reports of the results of various efforts and research reports of selected twelve students.
Short Leadership Program at North Carolina: Twelve students participated in the Short Leadership Program at
North Carolina, US, between March 3rd and 14th, 2014. All students not only attended lectures regarding Leadership,
Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer but also visited many laboratories in North Carolina State University,
Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to build networks with PIs, postdocs and graduate
students. In addition, all of them had opportunities to do presentations on their research to these researchersand have discussions. Furthermore, they visited seven companies to learn some ideas of working in industry as a
researcher and business environment in the USA from entrepreneurs and researchers. Here are companies students
visited during their stay: GlaxoSmithKline, Eisai, Inc., and Biogen Idec, world leading pharmaceutical companies;
Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. and BASF Corporation, global agribiotechnology companies; and Scynexis, Inc. andNIRvana Sciences, growing local companies.

Annual meetingWork shop In North Carolina

In October, 2013, a meeting between Dr. Osamu
Shimomura, Distinguished Invited Professor of Nagoya
University and International Advisory Board Member forour program (IGER), and Dr. Kunio Awaga, Professor andDirector of RCMS and Program Coordinator of IGER, washeld. During this meeting, Dr. Shimomura kindly offeredsome advice for the IGER and for young researchers
including graduated students.
Dr. Shimomura, Nobel Laureates and Prof. Awaga

610th Yoshimasa Hirata Memorial Lecture and ITbM-IGER-RCMS
International Nagoya Symposium on Transformative Synthesis
The 10th Yoshimasa Hirata Memorial Lecture and the ITbM-IGER- RCMS International Nagoya Symposium on
Transformative Synthesis were held at the Noyori Conference Hall on Tuesday, February 18th 2014.
The Yoshimasa Hirata Memorial Lecture was established in 2004, laying the foundation for natural productchemistry, where a great number of distinguished pupils gathered to honor the achievements of the late Nagoya
University Professor Emeritus Yoshimasa Hirata. Since then, it has been held annually, where prominent researchers
in the domain of synthetic organic chemistry have been presented with an award for their lecture. This year, for its
10th and final round, the lecture was held in conjunction with the International Nagoya Symposium on Transformative Synthesis, where up-and-coming young researchers from Japan and around the world were invited to speak
and learn about the most recent developments in synthetic organic chemical research.
This year’s Hirata Memorial Lectureship Award was received by Professor Martin D. Burke (University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign, USA), who achieved innovative progress for the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction and‘Molecule Prosthetics’. Prof. Burke was presented with a genuine gold medal embedded with the image of Professor
Hirata, and the packed auditorium listened with great enthusiasm as he discussed the background, successes, andcourse of his research.
The invited lecturers for the International Nagoya Symposium on Transformational Synthesis were Yoshito
Kishi (Professor, Harvard University, USA), Daisuke Uemura (Professor, Kanagawa University, Japan), and Justin Du
Bois (Associate Professor, Stanford University, USA), all whom presented wonderful talks in an easy-to-understandmanner regarding the development of research at the forefront of synthetic organic chemistry.
In the closing remarks, Prof. Yamaguchi (ITbM, vice-Director) deeply expressed his appreciation for all participants’ efforts contributing to the success of the Yoshimasa Hirata Memorial Lectures and announced that the
Yoshimasa Hirata Memorial Lecture will continue next year as the ‘Hirata Award’.

Award ceremony of 10th Yoshimasa Hirata
Memorial Lecutre

In the front row, from the left: Shigehiro Yamaguchi, Daisuke Uemura, Kiyoyuki Yamada,
Ryoji Noyori, Martin D. Burke, Yoshito Kishi, Justin Du Bois, Kenichiro Itami.
In the back row, from the left: Takashi Ooi, Masato Kitamura, Masaaki Suzuki, Tohru
Fukuyama, Haruki Niwa, Tsuyoshi Matsumoto, Takashi Yoshimura, Toshio Nishikawa,
Stephan Irle.

7

RCMS NEWS

Visiting Professors 2013
Prof. E. Peter Kündig
Professor of Emeritus, University of Geneva

Period of Stay:
September 30 – December 21, 2013
Research Theme:
“Study on High Performance and Environmentally
Benign Molecular Caralysis”

he also contributed to chemical societies through the
President of the Swiss Chemical Society, President of theevaluation committee of the Department of Chemistry
and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, and so on.
During this period, he has participated in our
research group meeting and given us many valuablesuggestions. He lectured to graduate school students
at a curriculum, “Cross-sectional Graduate Lecture byforeign professors” for six times, and to all of members
at RCMS seminar, titled as “New chiral NHC ligand forthe catalytic asymmetric arylation of amides and theenantioselective C(sp3)-H activation.” He made many
opportunities to discuss with researchers including
young scientists and student. We have had precious time
for these three months.

University of Geneva (Swiss) and stayed for threemonths from September 30 to December 21 2013.
He is a specialist of transition-metal chemistry and his
research interests are broad from metal complexes
syntheses to application for catalytic organic syntheses.
Recently, he has contributed to catalytic asymmetric
C-H activation methodology. During such researches,*************************************************************************
I visited Nagoya University first in 1985 on invitation by Ryoji Noyori and Hisashi Yamamoto. Over the years I
came to Nagoya several times again and have witnessed the consolidation of this school as one of the foremost
places of research in chemistry in Japan and the world. My 3-month (Oct–Dec. 2013) stay at the Nagoya ResearchCenter for Materials Science was terrific. It was rich in interaction with RCMS colleagues, those in the Graduate
Schools of Science and of Pharmaceutical Sciences, as well as with chemistry colleagues in the Graduate Schoolof Engineering. Several of the discussions ended in agreements to collaborate. I enjoyed giving research lectures
and teaching to graduate students. One of my favorite also was the Saturday morning group seminars of my host,
Masato Kitamura. My schedule saw exponential growth as a result of lecture invitations from a large number ofUniversities in the Nagoya and Kansai region. In addition to a profound enrichment of my knowledge of frontierareas of catalysis and synthesis, I acquired a considerable expertise in Japanese cuisine and in Sake and intensified
and extended friendships. Discussions on science, publishing and exchanges of reminiscences with Ryoji Noyori
were another appreciated component of my stay.
A great apartment on top of the Noyori conference hall, superb hospitality, all contributed to a scientifically andpersonally very rich stay in Nagoya. It will be remembered fondly forever. Special thanks go to Masato Kitamura forbeing an outstanding host and friend, and to Yuriko Nakamura and Yuko Kihara, whose great help was very muchappreciated.
E. Peter Kündig

8

Prof. Peter Skabara
Professor, University of Strathclyde

Period of Stay:
January 21 – March 1, 2014
Research Theme:
“Synthesis, properties, and application of novel conjugated molecules for organic electronics”
Professor Peter Skabara, from the United Kingdom’s
Strathclyde University, stayed as a resident at Nagoya
University for around one month, from January 21 – March
1, 2014 under his research subject “Synthesis, properties,
and application of novel conjugated molecules for organic
electronics.” Prof. Skabara is a prominent researcher in thefield of synthesis and physical property development ofnovel conjugated system organic compounds that makeup the materials for organic solar cells, organic electroluminescence elements and organic transistors, and works as the
Deputy Editor in Chief of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s
material systems journal “Journal of Materials Chemistry
C.” During his residency, Prof. Skabara participated in
discussions and offered a great amount of valuable advice
to laboratories such as the Advanced Materials Laboratory
and Functional Organic Materials Laboratory. In particular,

he showed interest in the application of polythiophene withthe tetrathiafulvalene region that he himself synthesized aselectrode material, and along with immediately bringing asample, is commencing joint research with the Advanced
Materials Laboratory. Furthermore, it was decided that
he will participate as a cooperative member of the Japan
Society for the Promotion of Science’s Core-to-Core Program(A. Advanced Research Networks) coordinated by RCMS
Director Awaga.
Along with moving the joint research forward, Prof.
Skabara gave a lecture on February 4th at the RCMS-IGER
seminar entitled “The role of non-covalent interactions inband-gap tuning, conformation and self-assembly,” where
his humorous style (such as using wooden chopsticks to
explain the molecular arrangement inside of a crystal)
received an overwhelmingly favorable reception.
In addition to Prof. Skabara’s warm and openhearted
personality, he also had a profound interest in Japanese culture, food and tradition, and came away from his experience
with an immensely positive impression of Japan. During thesecond half of his stay, his wife also visited Japan, and on theweekends they traveled to many nearby sightseeing spots
together. Unfortunately, his short stay ended with his returnto the UK on March 1st, but Prof. Skabara will again return to
Nagoya in October to participate in the symposium for theCore-to-Core
Program, andwe are looking
forward to theprogress of our
joint research,
including theexchange ofeach other ’s
students.

*************************************************************************In late summer 2013 an unexpected opportunity presented itself to me with the prospect of 1–3 months as a visiting professor
at the University of Nagoya in Japan. This was an extremely exciting opportunity, but some concerns went through my mind: family
commitments (I have 4 daughters); would my research group function well in my absence with correspondence limited to e-mails andconference calls; will the time spent abroad have at least equal value and output as the same time spent at my home institution in
Glasgow. On the other hand, the position would present a unique opportunity to build links with an internationally leading Materials
Chemistry group in one of the top Universities in Japan. At the same time, being based in Nagoya would provide an excellent baseto reach further out into the country and make contact with other groups to disseminate my group’s research activities and develop
collaborative projects. My final decision was a compromise: -a 6-week term of appointment to begin in January 2014.
Having visited Japan before, once for a conference in Osaka and a few years later a two-day meeting in Nagoya, I was no stranger
to the culture and cuisine that is so strikingly different to the Western world. However, these previous trips were only for a few days
(the return to ‘fish and chips’ was never far away in time), and I was conscious that a 6-week experience would be an entirely different
prospect. I arrived in Nagoya International airport on Tuesday late afternoon, feeling tired and jetlagged after having spent several
hours at Narita airport (Tokyo) waiting for the connecting flight. A familiar and welcoming face, that of Prof Shigehiro Yamaguchi(previous host in Nagoya), was there to greet me and I was subsequently escorted by train and taxi to the University campus where
my apartment was located. Despite my tiredness, I could not fail to notice the stunning blue display of the University clock tower – alegacy from the successful patents that were developed by Isamu Akasaki on GaN LEDs in the late 1980s. Prior to my arrival, I had notthought so deeply about accommodation and what was in store for me for the next 6 weeks – all that mattered was that I had a roof
over my head and a warm bed, close to the University. So, it was a somewhat unexpected but very pleasant surprise to be presented
with a beautiful spacious and modern apartment, equipped with all mod cons. This included remote controlled air conditioning andfull electronic control of the bath system. In the morning I would open the blinds of my apartment to have full view of my office in the
Materials Science building. The Noyori international accommodation facilities and location were a perfect start to my stay in Nagoya.
My time in Nagoya and elsewhere in Japan was filled with many activities and discussions, so the 6-week period went by swiftly– too swiftly. I felt I had made some excellent new contacts and cemented ongoing collaborations. On my last night on campus, we
held a farewell reception so that I could thank my hosts and all the people I had interacted with in Nagoya. This was a touching andspecial moment for me. I have now spent research sabbaticals in several locations around the world, but never have my shoes been
filled with so much lead as they were the next morning when I finally left Japan on this particular trip. A core-to-core workshop is
scheduled for October in Hokkaido and I cannot wait to return to this beautiful country and link once again with the highly talented
research colleagues I have befriended.
Peter Skabara

9

RCMS NEWSNew Faculty Member
Design and Regulation of Solid
Catalyst Surfaces and Catalysis

Mechanisms of phospholipid trafficking
for maintaining organelle homeostasis

Various chemical processes have been achievedby heterogeneous solid
catalysts, however it is still
difficult to understand theactive structures of solid
catalysts and their reaction
mechanism of heterogeneous catalysis. Molecularlevel design of heterogeneous catalyst surfaces toward selective catalysis is oneof the challenging subjects in modern chemistry. We
have studied supported metal complexes and metal
nanoclusters on oxide surfaces prepared by chemical
attaching techniques of metal-complex precursors andchemical functionalization of solid catalyst surfaces.
We have also developed in situ time-resolved/spaceresolved XAFS techniques to understand dynamic
catalysis at solid surfaces. Scanning nano-XAFS and X-ray
computed laminography XAFS provide 2 or 3-dimensional images of structures and chemical states of solid
catalysts, and relationship between active structures insolid catalysts and their catalysis are discussed.

Cellular power plants,
mitochondria are dynamic
organelle and constantly
fuse and divide to maintaintheir proper shape. More
importantly, mitochondria
can dramatically change(increase/decrease) their volume in response to extracellular environment, indicatingthat mitochondria are flexible organelle (Figure 1). Since
it has been revealed that defects in mitochondrial fusionand fission lead to neurodegenerative disease and cardiomyopathy, the mechanisms of mitochondrial fusion/
fisson have been extensively studied. However, it is hard
to explain how mitochondria proliferate from the aspectof mitochondrial fusion/fission. In order to understandhow mitochondria maintain their flexibility, we focus
on phospholipids, major components of organelle
membranes, especially their traffic among organelles.
Despite the importance, it is largely unknown how
phospholipids travel between organelle membranes. We
are now tackling this unexplored field through identifying novel players involved in phospholipid biogenesis
and developing assay system to analyze phospholipid
transport between mitochondria and the endoplasmic
reticulum (ER) in vitro.

Collaborator: Dr. Satoshi Muratsugu, Dr. Nozomu
Ishiguro, Dr. Tomoya Uruga, Dr. Toshihiko Yokoyama(Mizuki TADA)

Figure 1 Morphological change in mitochondria in
response to extracellular nutrient
References[1] Tamura, Y. et al. (2012) J. Biol. Chem. 287, 15205–15218.
[2] Tamura, Y. et al. (2012) J. Biol. Chem. 287, 43961–43971.
[3] Tamura, Y. et al. (2013) Cell Metab. 17, 709–718.


10(Yasushi TAMURA)

Size-Selective Extraction ofEndohedral Metallofullerenes

Development of New
Transformation of Unreactive Bonds

Endohedral metallofullerenes, fullerenes with metallic
species encapsulated, show
unique electronic and magnetic properties.[1] Despite
their great potential, applications of metallofullerenes
have been limited by the
known difficulties of efficient
separation and purification.
Herein, we report a new strategy for the non-chromatographic extraction of metallofullerenes is based on thesize-selective complexation with cycloparaphenylene(CPP), an all-benzene carbon nanoring.[2]Organic chemistry has
been regarded as the mostimportant field in materials
science because it provides
understanding on organic
molecules, which have been
widely found in various bioactive molecules and organic
functional materials. Since
structures of molecules significantly affect their properties, development of direct,
precise, and selective synthesis of target molecules ishighly important. Here, I wish to introduce our recent
achievements that have been conducted under the guidance of Profs. Atsuhiro Osuka and Hideki Yo­ri­mi­tsu until
Feb. 2014 at the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research.

CPP, which has an inner cavity and p-conjugatedstructure, represents one of the best candidate hostmolecules for metallofullerenes.[3] We found that [11]CPP has a high affinity for Gd@C82, Tm@C82, Lu2@C82. In
addition, an enrichment of Gd@C82 was demonstrated
from mixture solutions of arc-processed raw soot by theaddition of [11]CPP. This approach should open newopportunities in metallofullerene chemistry, including
for missing metallofullerenes.
References[1] H. Shinohara, Rep. Prog. Phys. 2000, 63, 843.
[2] Y. Nakanishi, H. Omachi, S. Matsuura, Y. Miyata, R.
Kitaura, Y, Segawa, K, Itami, H. Shinohara, Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. 2014, 53. 3102.
[3] H. Omachi, Y. Segawa, K. Itami, Acc. Chem. Res. 2012,
45. 1378.
(Haruka OMACHI)

Benzofurans are ubiquitous frameworks that arefound in various natural products, bioactive molecules,
and functional molecules. Development of selective
and tailor-made syntheses of benzofurans is therefore
highly important for pharmaceutical chemists, as well as
material chemists who need libraries for novel medicinesand functional molecules. We submitted our work on
the extended Pummerer annulation/cross-coupling
sequence to construct multisubstituted benzofurans atwill.1 Our sequence is powerful enough to synthesize
biologically active natural products as well as highly
fluorescent benzofuran derivatives.
Recently, I joined the Itami Group2 as an assistantprofessor, where the people are pursuing ideal synthesis
to discover new functional materials. I wish to contribute
my work in our common goal through novel reactions.
References
1. K. Murakami, H. Yorimitsu, A. Osuka, Submitted.
2. Recent reviews from our group: (a) J. Yamaguchi,
K. Muto, K. Itami, Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2013, 1, 19; (b) J.
Yamaguchi, A. D. Yamaguchi, K. Itami, Angew. Chem.,
Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 8960; (c) H. Omachi, Y. Segawa, K.
Itami, Acc. Chem. Res. 2012, 45, 1378.
(Kei MURAKAMI)

11

RCMS NEWSRCMS Seminars
April 9, 2013 Prof. Dr. Marcus Elstner(Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany)“Multi-Scale Methods for the Investigation of Biological Structures and Processes”

April 22, 2013 Prof. Matthew J. Gaunt(University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)“Novel chemical reactivity using high oxidation state transition metal
catalysis”

April 24, 2013 Prof. Dr. Marek Wojcik(Professor of Chemical Sciences, Laboratory of Molecular Spectroscopy, Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian
University, Krakow, Poland)“Spectroscopy of hydrogen bond – theoretical modeling of spectra and proton tunneling”

May 13, 2013 Prof. Olivier Baudoin(University of Lyon 1 and CPE Lyon)“Palladium(0)-catalyzed intramolecular C(sp3)-H bond functionalization”

May 28, 2013 Prof. Wolfgang Weigand(Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena)“From Prebiotic to Bio-Inspired Hydrogen Production”

June 5, 2013 Prof. Guosheng Liu(Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, China)“Transition Metal-Catalyzed Direct Fluorination of Organic Compounds”

June 6, 2013 Dr. Jiahao Chen
(Department of Chemistry, MIT, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.)“Disorder and excitonic structure in organic semiconductors”
June 14, 2013 Dr. Toshio Miyamachi(Institute for Solid State Physics, the University of Tokyo)“A spin crossover-based multifunctional molecular memory”

12June 19, 2013 Prof. Dr. Robert K. Szilagyi(Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT U.S.A.)“Spectroscopic Calibration of Electronic Structure Theory: Basis Sets, Exchange and Correlation Functionals,
Ground and Excited States”
July 3, 2013 Prof. Alexander S. Fedorov(L. Kirensky Institute of Physics, Russian Academy of Science & Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia)“Kinetic stability vs thermodynamics of nanostructures - investigation of relative stability of fullerenes and SWCNTs”
July 4, 2013 Prof. Stephen F. Lincoln(University of Adelaide, Australia)“Cyclodextrin Supramolecular Chemistry”
July 19, 2013 Prof. Dr. Yasutaka Kitagawa(Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University)“Application of a spin-projected broken-symmetry (BS) DFT to polynuclear metal complexes ~ Electronic
structure, molecular structure and physical properties~”
July 24, 2013 Dr. Alister J. Page
(Discipline of Chemistry, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan)“Simulating Ionic Liquid Nanostructure with Quantum Chemistry”

July 31, 2013 Prof. Christophe COPERET(ETH Zurich, Switzerland)“Controlled Functionalization of Surface Towards Single-site Catalysts”

July 31, 2013 Dr. Pierre H. Dixneuf(Professor, University of Rennes 1)“Cross-coupling reactions from C-H bonds with Ruthenium(II)-carboxylate
catalysts”

August 2, 2013 Dr. Gong Chen
(Assistant Professor, Pennsylvania State University)“New Palladium-Catalyzed C-H Functionalization Strategies for
Organic Synthesis”

August 29, 2013 Prof. Josep M. Poblet(Departament de Química Física i Inorgànica Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Tarragona, Spain)“Electronic Structure of Polyoxometalates : From the Nucleation of Small Polyoxotungstates to the Properties ofLarge Anions”

13

RCMS NEWS

September 3, 2013 Dr. Jan M. Knaup(Bremen Center of Computational Materials Science (BCCMS), Universität Bremen, Germany)“Advanced Modeling of Functional Nanoionics in Oxides”

September 4, 2013 Dr. Andrew E. H. Wheatley(University Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, The Universityof Cambridge)“New ideas in directed metallation –Teaching old dogs new tricks”

September 9, 2013 Prof. Eckart Rühl
(Physikalische Chemie, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)“Photoexcitation, Photoionization, and Relaxation of Clusters andNanoparticles”

September 11, 2013 Dr. Jamal Musaev(Cherry L. Emerson Center for Scientific Computation, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.)“Knowledge-based Catalyst Design: Transition Metal Catalyzed Water Oxidation and Stereoselective C-H Bond
Functionalization”

September 24, 2013 Dr. Vadim A. Soloshonok(Ikerbasque Research Professor, University of Basque Country, San
Sebastian, Spain)“Self-Disproportionation of Enantiomers: Theory and Practical Applications
for Unconventional Preparation of Enantiomerically Pure Compounds”

September 25, 2013 Dr. Eric Francotte(Executive Director, NOVARTIS)“Enantioselective Chromatography: An
Essential Tool for Chiral Drug Discovery
and Development”

September 30, 2013 Prof. Dr. Gerhard Hilt
(Fachbereich Chemie Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany)“Modern Aspects in Cobalt-Catalysed Carbon-Carbon Bond
Formation Reactions”

14

October 2, 2013 Dr. Matthew A. Addicoat(School of Engineering and Science, Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany)“A computational toolkit for mass-screening metal-organic frameworks”

October 2, 2013 Prof. Dr. Bernhard Wünsch
(Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster)“Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of Novel Sigma
Receptor Ligands”

October 8, 2013 Prof. E. Peter Kündig
(Professor, University of Geneva)“New chiral NHC ligands for the catalytic asymmetric arylation of amides
and the enantioselective C(sp3)-H activation”

October 15, 2013 Dr. Alex Domingo(University of Strasbourg)“Approaching multifunctionallity through computational simulations of magnetic and photo-sensiblemolecularmaterials”

October 16, 2013 Prof. Martin Albrecht(School of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, University College Dublin,
Ireland)“Variation on a theme: less classical N-heterocyclic carbenes andtheir (catalytic) impact”

October 21, 2013 Prof. Mark J. MacLachlan(University of British Columbia, Canada)“Supramolecular Origami: Transforming Paper into Twisted Structures”

15

RCMS NEWS

October 22, 2013 Prof. Jiun-Tai Chen(National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan)“Wetting and Instability Studies of Polymer Nanomaterials in Porous
Anodic Aluminum Oxide Templates”

October 22, 2013 Prof. Yen-Ju Cheng(National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan)“Molecular engineering of new organic materials for solar cell applications”

October 24, 2013 Prof. Bruce C. GATES(University of California, Davis)“Molecular Catalysts on Surfaces: Synthesis, Characterization,
and Design”

October 28, 2013 Asst. Prof. Dr. Pornpan Pungpo(Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Ubonratchathani University, Ubonratchathani, THAILAND)“Computer aided drug design of anti-tubercular agents and anti-cancer agents”

November 11, 2013 Professor Sung Ho Kang
(Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science andTechnology (KAIST), Korea)“Total Synthesis of Arenaric Acid”

November 27, 2013 Prof. Toshihiko YOKOYAMA(Institute for Molecular Science)“Novel Spectroscopic Methodology for Materials Science”

16December 9, 2013 Prof. Itaru Hamachi(Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University)

December 16, 2013 Prof. Suzanne A. Blum
(Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, U.S.A.)“Microscopy for Synthetic Chemists and Dual-Metal Catalysis with Gold”

January 21, 2014 Prof. Huailiang Xu(State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelelectronics,
Jilin University, China)“Remote air lasing in femtosecond laser filaments”

January 24, 2014 Prof. Amlan J. PAL(Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science)“From Molecular Electronics to Organic Molecular Spintronics”

January 30, 2014 Prof. Vincent Artero(Laboratoire de Chimie et Biologie des Métaux (CEA/Université
Grenoble 1/CNRS))“Biomimetic, bio-inspired and biosynthetic catalysts for water splitting”

17RCMS NEWS

February 4, 2014 Prof. Klavs Hansen(University of Gothenburg, Department of Physics, SE-412 96 Göteborg, SWEDEN)“Radiative cooling of carbon clusters”

February 4, 2014 Prof. Peter J Skabara(University of Strathclyde)“The role of non-covalent interactions in band-gap tuning,
conformation and self-assembly”

February 5, 2014 Prof. Hiroshi Nagase(International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS), University ofTsukuba, Japan)

February 26, 2014 Prof. Georg Süss-Fink(Université de Neuchâtel, Institut de chimie (ICH), Switzerland)“Water-Soluble Arene Ruthenium Complexes: Anticancer
Properties and Beyond”
March 6, 2014 Dr. Nawee Kungwan(Department of Chemistry, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand)“Quantum Chemical Studies of organic sensitizers with modified donor units for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells”

March 6, 2014 Prof. Zhi-Heng Loh(School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore)“Ultrafast Electron and Nuclear Dynamics Induced by Strong-Field
lonization: From Atomic Gases to Liquid Water”

March 14, 2014 Dr. Matthew A. Addicoat(School of Engineering and Science, Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany)“Development of the systematic molecular fragmentation method based on DFTB”

18

Students from University of Münster
Nils Schröder

Raúl Adler

Period of Stay:
April – September, 2013
Research Theme:
Synthesis of New Plant-growth
Molecules by C-H Activation

Period of Stay:
December, 2013 – June 2014
Research Theme:
Exploration of Photo-promoted
Bora-Nazarov reactions

David Königs

Marina Szermerski

Period of Stay:
July – December, 2013
Research Theme:
Synthesis of new cationic ruthenium complexes with a bare Ru-P
bond for heterolytic Si-H bondactivation

Period of Stay:
January – July, 2014
Research Theme:
P450 Catalysed Oxidation as a
Key Step in the Synthesis of PET
Tracers for Imaging

Matthias Dahlkamp

Steffen Eusterwiemann

Period of Stay:
October, 2013 – March, 2014
Research Theme:
Hydroalumination of Unsaturated
Nitrogen Containing Compounds

Period of Stay:
January – July, 2014
Research Theme:
Selective synthesis of ring polymers mediated with nitroxide
diradicals

Dominik Bergmann

Benjamin Vonhören

Period of Stay:
October, 2013 – March, 2014
Research Theme:
Synthesis of aminoglycoside derivatives that induce inaccuratetranslation

Period of Stay:
January – July, 2014
Research Theme:
Optoelectronic Devices build by
the Layer-by-Layer-Approach

Eva Koch
Period of Stay:
November, 2013 – May 2014
Research Theme:
Direct coupling of carbonyl compounds and phenol derivatives

19

RCMS NEWS

Report from the Chemical Instrumentation Facility
The Chemical Instrumentation Facility (CIF) is ashared facility for all of Nagoya University to analyze
molecular structure using nuclear magnetic resonanceapparatuses and mass spectrometers. The CIF provides
services to faculty, researchers, students and others
through the operation and maintenance of measuring equipment, teaching of measurement methods,
consultation for specific measurements, and the takingof requested measurements. Furthermore, the CIF hastaken on the role of the Nagoya University window
for SciFinder, an online Chemistry information searchservice. In 2013, to display the “CIF Utilization Status,”
85 research groups within Nagoya University registered,with the number of registered faculty, students, andresearchers reaching 787. With the addition of the newly
established Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules,
the number of users of the CIF continues to grow year
after year.

simply exchanging the probe, both liquid and solid statemeasurements can be taken using the same device, andby making it publicly available, use of the solid state
NMRs is expected to proceed smoothly.

Slid state NMR probe[CIF Utilization Status]
Utilization Status for the Academic Year 2013
(April 2013 – February 2014)[Introduction to the Setup andEquipment in the CIF]
The demand for structural analysis of insolubleorganic and inorganic chemical compounds such as
high polymer materials, battery materials, and soilorganic matter by using a solid state NMR is increasing
year by year. For this reason, the CIF is constantly adding reservations for its ECA700 solid state NMR to its
queue. In order to improve this situation, the ECA600
NMR, which has been until now used as a liquid state
NMR, has been opened to the public with a solid statemeasurement unit added. With this new unit, throughNumber of Uses/Measurements by Instrument

Liquid/Solid NMR (JNM-ECA600, JEOL)

20

Utilization Status by Department(Total: 85 Groups, 787 People)

Visits to the Chemistry Gallery

Ap
ri
M l
ay
Ju
ne
Ju
A
S e u g ly
pt us
em t
O be
No cto r
ve be
D m r
ec be
em r
Ja ber
n
Fe ua
br ry
ua
r
M y
ar
ch

The Chemistry Gallery (2nd Floor of the Noyori
Materials Science Laboratory) continued to host a large
number of visitors in 2013. (From April 2013 to February
2014, 11,115 people).
This includes many high school students andtheir parents visiting Nagoya University to tour theChemistry Gallery and follow University Professor Ryoji
Noyori’s steps in his path to receiving the Nobel Prize,
as well as people who came to see special exhibitions
held at the Gallery. In addition, the Gallery held many
events such as seminars and lectures by overseas guest
researchers. And also many people visited during Open
Campus in August (845 people) and Nagoya University Home Coming Day in October. (778 people)

Using possessions of Research Center for Materials Science – Exhibition at Ehime Prefectural Science
Museum.
“Marie Curie Poster Exhibition” October 5 – November 10, 2013

Using possessions of Research Center for Materials
Science – Exhibition at Ogaki Suitopia Center, Gifu
prefecture.
“History of Novel Prize Winner in Japan”
February 8 – March 9, 2014

21

RCMS NEWSPrizes Awarded
Designated Prof. Kazuyuki Tatsumi
Japan Academy Prize 2013
The award ceremony was attended by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan held on June 17,2013, at the Japan Academy Assembly Hall in Ueno, Tokyo.

The Commendation for
Science and Technology by
the Minister of Education,
Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology 201322

Assistant Prof. Shohei Saito
The 2nd Ishida Prize of Nagoya University
The 2nd NF Foundation R&D Encouragement Award*************************************************************************

JSPS Core-to-Core Program(Advanced Research Networks)
Professor Shigehiro Yamaguchi of the Research Center for Materials Science has been selected as the Coordinator of the Advanced Research Networks section of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science’s (JSPS)
Core-to-Core Program. Starting in 2014, for the next five years, the goal of the program is to construct a base ofworld-class core research exchange, and along with it nurture the young researchers that will become central to thenext generation. This will be achieved by connecting Japanese and overseas center of excellence (COE) organizations which is Germany and Canada, and building dynamic cooperative alliances through research projects thatare leading-edge in Japan and considered important globally.
(Project Title: Elements Function for Transformative Catalysis and Materials)

Annual Meeting of The Chemical Society of Japan 2014
was held in Nagoya University<Date> March 27 – March 30, 2014
<Venue> Nagoya University, Higashiyama campus<President of the Annual Meeting>Vice president of Nagoya University, Professor Yoshihito Watanabe, Research Center for Materials Science, Nagoya
University

23

RCMS NEWS

Staff List
Director

Professor(2474)

awaga@mbox.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Special Advisor

University Professor Ryoji Noyori(2291)

yamaguchi@mbox.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Assistant Professor Shohei Saito(5750)

s_saito@mail.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Assistant Professor Kei Murakami(4525)

murakami@chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Research Fellow

Gore Sangram(2960)

gore@os.rcms.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Research Fellow

Papagari Venkat Reddy(2960)

papagari@os.rcms.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Professor

Mizuki Tada

(6200)

mtada@chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Associate Professor Hideo Takagi(5473)

htakagi@chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Assistant Professor Yasuyuki Yamada(2471)

yy@chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Designated Professor Kazuyuki Tatsumi(2474)

i45100a@nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Professor(2487)

awaga@mbox.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Assistant Professor Akitaka Matsuda(2945)

amatsuda@chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Assistant Professor Haruka Omachi(3660)

omachi.haruka@a.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Biomaterials
Research

Professor(3049)

p47297a@nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Associate Professor Yasushi Tamura(2950)

tamura@chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Molecular
Catalysis

University Professor Ryoji Noyori(2956)

noyori@chem3.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Assistant Professor Hiroshi Naka

(5411)

h_naka@nagoya-u.jp

Assistant Professor Shinji Tanaka(2960)

tanaka@os.rcms.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Organic Synthesis Professor

Inorganic
Synthesis

Functional
Materials

Collaborative
Studies

ChemicalInstrumentation
Facility

Kunio Awaga

Shigehiro Yamaguchi

Kunio Awaga

Yoshihito Watanabe

Guest Professor

Tadashi Sugawara (Professor, Kanagawa University)

Guest Professor

Kündig Ernst Peter (Professor Emeritus, University of Geneva)

Guest Professor

Skabara Peter John (Professor, University of Strathclyde)

Manager / Professor

Shigehiro Yamaguchi(2291)

yamaguchi@mbox.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Assistant Professor Chunguang Han(3072)

hanc@cic.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Technical Personnel

Yutaka Maeda(3069)

maeda@cic.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Technical Personnel Kin-ichi Oyama(3069)

oyama@cic.nagoya-u.ac.jp

International Advisory Board

Michael Grunze (Professor Emeritus, Heidelberg University)
Roald Hoffman (Professor Emeritus, Cornell University – Laureate, Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
Henri Boris Kagan (Professor Emeritus, Paris-Sud 11 University)
Atsuko Tsuji (Editorial Writer, Asahi Shimbun)

Cooperating
Faculty

RCMS Office24

Professor

Hisanori Shinohara (Graduate School of Science) (2482)

noris@nagoya-u.jp

Professor

Toshiya Endo (Graduate School of Science) (2490)

endo@biochem.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Professor

Akiyoshi Hishikawa (Graduate School of Science) (2494)

hishi@chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Professor

Kenichiro Itami (Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules) (6098)

itami.kenichiro@a.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Associate Professor Susumu Saito (Institute for Advanced Research) (5945)

saito.susumu@f.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Distinguished Invited
Sumio Iijima
University Professor(6460)

iijimas@nagoya-u.jp

Administrative Staff Yuko Kihara(5907)

kihara@os.rcms.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Administrative Staff Sakiko Komura(5902)

komura@os.rcms.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Administrative Staff Sonoe Tankiku(5908)

tankiku@os.rcms.nagoya-u.ac.jp