Dr. Jianchun Wang is an Associate Professor (Research Fellow), Ph.D. Supervisor, and Principal Investigator at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). He joined SUSTech in October 2021 and has since focused on research in organic electrosynthesis. His group develops innovative chemically modified electrodes and electrocatalysts to address fundamental challenges in organic synthesis through precise control of electron-transfer processes.
Current research interests include: (1) interfacial electron-transfer control; (2) reaction design based on physicochemical principles; (3) structure–activity relationships and cooperative catalysis in homogeneous electrocatalysis; and (4) efficient synthesis of bioactive molecules.
Dr. Wang received his B.S. degree from Peking University in 2014, under the mentorship of Prof. Yuguo Ma. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago in 2019, advised by Prof. Guangbin Dong, where he developed several new catalysts for Pd/norbornene cooperative catalysis that addressed key limitations in this field, including the well-known “ortho-constraint” and “aryl constraint.” From 2019 to 2021, he conducted postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology under Nobel Laureate Prof. Robert H. Grubbs, where he developed polymer-modified interfacial electrocatalysts to improve the selectivity of electrochemical CO₂ reduction.
To date, Dr. Wang has published 32 peer-reviewed papers, which have been cited over 2,700 times. As an independent investigator, he has published as the corresponding author in Nature Catalysis (1 paper), JACS (2 papers), Nat. Commun. (1 paper), and Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (1 paper). Prior to independence, he published 12 papers as first or co-corresponding author in top-tier journals, including Nature Chemistry (2 papers), JACS (3 papers), Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (3 papers), Chem (1 paper), and Chemical Reviews (1 paper).
Selected Awards:
2026, Thieme Chemistry Journal Award
2021, National NSF for Excellent Young Scientists
2020, Reaxys PhD Prize, winner
2018, Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self Financed Students Abroad
2018, William Rainey Harper Dissertation Completion Fellowship Award
