Yunfei Cai
Yunfei Cai, PI, Research Professor.
Email: yf.cai@cqu.edu.cn, Phone: 15928708564
Yunfei Cai studied at Sichuan University, College of Chemistry, where he completed his diploma thesis under the direction of Professor Xiaoming Feng in 2009. He stayed in Feng’s group and obtained his Ph.D. from Sichuan University in 2014 working on the Lewis acid catalyzed asymmetric halofunctionalization reactions. Yunfei then obtained prestigious Humboldt fellowship and moved to RWTH University in Germany and KAUST in Saudi Arabia to work with Professor Magnus Rueping on Brønsted acid catalysis and photoredox catalysis from 2014 to 2017. In September 2017, he joined Chongqing University as PI to start his independent research. Prof. Cai’s research interests focus on the development of functionalized furanoxonium ion-based asymmetric rearrangement reactions and carbon nitride-based heterogeneous photoredox catalysis in organic synthesis.
Selected Paper:
1. Lei Xu, Sishi Zhong, Qian Yang, Jie Wei, Jiaming Zou, Hongxiang Li, and Yunfei Cai*. Catalytic Asymmetric Radical-Mediated Three-Component Piancatelli-Type Rearrangement of Furylalkenes. ACS Catal. 2021, 11, 10198–10207.
2. Yali He, Xiao Dan, Yurong Tang,* Qian Yang, Wentao Wang,* and Yunfei Cai*. Semi-heterogeneous photocatalytic fluoroalkylation-distal functionalization of unactivated alkenes with RFSO2Na under air atmosphere. Green Chem. 2021, 23, 9577–9582.
3. Qian Yang, Guanglong Pan, Jie Wei, Wentao Wang, Yurong Tang,* and Yunfei Cai*. Remarkable Activity of Potassium-Modified Carbon Nitride for Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Decarboxylative Alkyl/Acyl Radical Addition and Reductive Dimerization of para-Quinone Methides. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 2367–2377.
4. Lei Xu, Hongxiang Li, Liuzhuang Xing, Qian Yang, Yurong Tang, and Yunfei Cai*. Retro-Aza-Piancatelli Rearrangement Triggered Cascade Reaction of Methyl Furylacrylates with Anilines to Access Cyclopenta[b]pyrrolidinones. J. Org. Chem. 2022, 87, 855–865.
5. Guanglong Pan, Qian Yang, Wentao Wang, Yurong Tang,* and Yunfei Cai*. Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Cyanomethylarylation of Alkenes with Acetonitrile: Synthesis of Diverse Nitrogenous Heterocyclic Compounds. Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1171–1180.
6. Sishi Zhong, Lei Xu, and Yunfei Cai*. Recent Advances on Piancatelli Reactions and Related Cascade Processes. Synthesis 2022, 54, 589–599.
7. Lei Xu, Qian Yang, Shisi Zhong, Hongxiang Li, Yurong Tang,* and Yunfei Cai*. Ln(III)/Chiral Brønsted Acid Catalyzed Asymmetric Cascade Ring Opening/Aza-Piancatelli Rearrangement of D-A Cyclopropanes. Org. Lett. 2020, 22, 9016–9021.
8. Pengxin Geng, Yurong Tang, Guanglong Pan, Wentao Wang, Jinchuan Hu,* and Yunfei Cai*. A g-C3N4-based Heterogeneous Photocatalyst for Visible Light Mediated Aerobic Benzylic C-H Oxygenations. Green. Chem. 2019, 21, 6116–6122.
9. Yunfei Cai, Xiaohua Liu, Pengfei Zhou, and Xiaoming Feng*, Asymmetric Catalytic Halofunctionalization of α,β-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds. J. Org. Chem. 2019, 84, 1–13.
10. Yunfei Cai, Yurong Tang, Lulu Fan, Quntin Lefebvre, Hong Hou, Magnus Rueping*. Heterogeneous Visible-Light Photoredox Catalysis with Graphitic Carbon Nitride for α-Aminoalkyl Radical Additions, Allylations, and Heteroarylations. ACS Catal. 2018, 8, 9471−9476.
11. Yunfei Cai, Yurong Tang, Iuliana Atodiresei, and Magnus Rueping*, Catalytic AsymmetricPiancatelli Rearrangement: Brønsted Acid Catalyzed 4π Electrocyclization for the Synthesis of Multisubstituted Cyclopentenones. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 14126–14130.
12. Yunfei Cai, Xiaohua Liu, Yonghai Hui, Jun Jiang, Wentao Wang, Weiliang Chen, Lili Lin, and Xiaoming Feng*, Catalytic Asymmetric Bromoamination of Chalcones: Highly Efficient Synthesis of Chiral α-Bromo-β-amino Ketone Derivatives. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 6160–6164.
13. Yunfei Cai, Xiaohua Liu, Jun Jiang, Weiliang Chen, Lili Lin, and Xiaoming Feng*, Asymmetric Chloroamination Reaction of α,β-Unsaturated γ-Keto Esters and Chalcones, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 5636–5639.
14. Yunfei Cai, Pengfei Zhou, Xiaohua Liu, Jiannan Zhao, Lili Lin, and Xiaoming Feng*, Diastereoselectively Switchable Asymmetric Haloaminocyclization for the Synthesis of Cyclic Sulfamates, Chem. Eur. J. 2015, 21, 6386–6389.
15. Yunfei Cai, Xiaohua Liu, Pengfei Zhou, Yulong Kuang, Lili Lin, and Xiaoming Feng*, Iron-Catalyzed Asymmetric Haloamination Reactions, Chem. Commun. 2013, 49, 8054–8056.
16. Yunfei Cai, Jun Li, Weiliang Chen, Mingsheng Xie, Xiaohua Liu, Lili Lin, and Xiaoming Feng*, Catalytic Asymmetric Sulfenylation of Unprotected 3-Substituted Oxindoles, Org. Lett. 2012, 14, 2726–2729.
17. Yunfei Cai, Xiaohua Liu, Jun Li, Wentao Wang, Weiliang Chen, Lili Lin, and Xiaoming Feng*, Asymmetric Iodoamination of Chalcones and 4-Aryl-4-oxobutenoates Catalyzed by a Complex Based on Scandium(III) and a N,N′-Dioxide Ligand, Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 14916–14921.
18. Yunfei Cai, Wentao Wang, Ke Shen, Jun Wang, Xiaolei Hu, Lili Lin, Xiaohua Liu and Xiaoming Feng*, Highly enantioselective α-chlorination of cyclic β-ketoesters catalyzed by N,N’-Dioxide using NCS as the chlorine source, Chem. Commun. 2010, 46, 1250–1252.
