Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica – Research
Directions
The research thrusts of the Institute are currently grouped along three major directions: materials chemistry, chemical synthesis and catalysis, and chemical biology. The current topics of materials sector include organic electroluminescent materials and devices, organic field-effect transistor materials and devices, photovoltaic materials and devices. The chemical catalysis and synthesis sector is focusing on the development of new synthetic methodology, drug discovery, carbohydrate chemistry, and the development of new catalytic systems for the generation of renewal energies and green fuels. The chemical biology program has made important advances in the delineation of bio-macromolecular structures and the development of new analytical platforms for disease detection and diagnosis.
Materials Chemistry: Organic Electronic and Optoelectronic Materialsy
Applications of organic optoelectronic materials and molecular engineering of nanomaterials are two major research directions under the materials division. Noticeable results include developments of blue fluorescent molecular materials for high performance organic light-emitting diodes, rational design of field-effective organic memory devices based on pentacene and gold nanoparticles, the very first stable organic thin film transistor based on single crystal of hexacene, rare single-walled metal–organic nanotube (MONT) with a large exterior wall diameter, the applications of metal-organic framework as optoelectronic materials, and a number of high performance materials for efficient solar energy harvesting devices such as dye-sensitized solar cells, perovskite solar cells, or organic photovoltaics. Researchers in this sector also develop stimuli-responsive materials, core-shell nanomaterials, and biomaterials. A recent report shows that a cell membrane–mimicking conducting polymer is capable to integrate biochemical and electrical stimulation to promote neural cellular behavior with great enhancement of neurite outgrowth on this conducting polymer.
Chemical Catalysis and Synthesis: Green Catalysis and Synthetic Methodology
In response to the increasingly demands of sustainable fuel and green synthetic technology, researchers in the organic synthesis and chemical catalysis divisions have strived to advance the development of cutting-edge technology for chemical transformations. The synthetic chemistry division of this sector focuses on the advances of synthetic methodology and drug discovery. The research topics under catalysis division is reconciling to catalysis relating to renewable energy. Major research directions in this sector include: (1) synthetic methodology: silyl ethers for hydroxy- directed nucleophilic acyl alkylation, microwave-assisted carbohydrate synthesis, smart fluorescent probes for bioorthogonal sugar labeling; (2) coordination chemistry: approaching unconventional catalysis via amino-NHC and carbodicarbene, unconventional porphyrin complexes for small molecule activations, engineering cytochrome P450 BM3 and alkane hydroxylase (AlkB) for alkane oxidations; (3) renewable energy catalysis: catalytic hydrogen evolution and mechanistic studies, encapsulated tricopper cluster for methane to methanol conversion, and novel catalysts for valorization of lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks.
Chemical Biology: New Material and Method towards Sustainable Health
Chemical biology division focus on the development of new material and methodology to explore the structure and function of macromolecules associated with cellular function or human diseases. The research activities are directed to unravel the underlying pathological mechanism and to derive new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Research topics in this division cover (1) development of smart biomaterials based on novel molecular principles; (2) chemical probe and advanced techniques in bio-imaging and structural biology; (3) drug discovery in cancer, infectious and neurodegenerative diseases; (4) development of structural biology techniques for infectious diseases, and (5) development of advanced proteomics strategies for biomarker discovery. The major achievements from the chemical biology group include the establishment of multiplexed quantitative strategy for membrane proteomics and post-translational modification for delineating disease mechanism and mining therapeutic targets discovery of amyloid fibrils induced from the TDP-43 in the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and development of a photocontrollable probe to induce TDP-43 aggregates in live cells, mapping of the RNA exit channel on transcribing RNA polymerase II by FRET analysis, development of nano velcro chip to capture circulating tumor cells for liquid biopsy, construction of a near-infrared- activatable enzyme platform using an up-conversion nanoparticle to remotely trigger intracellular signal transduction.
晶體中的軌跡分析與拓樸光異構化
Crystal Packing–Trajectory Correlation in Topochemical PhotoisomerizationAngew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 65, e18997.
Bryan Po-Wen Chen, Chao-Ping Hsu, Joseph Jen-Tse Huang,* and Pi-Tai Chou*
This study explores how solid-state photoisomerization can still occur in crystals where molecules are tightly packed. By examining a library of salicylhydrazone derivatives, we obtained single crystals for sixteen compounds and found that even planarly packed structures can show clear photochromic behavior when there is enough local steric freedom around the reactive bonds. Through systematic analysis of π–π stacking patterns and quantification of the free volume available along the isomerization pathway, we identified a strong and direct correlation between local free space and photoreactivity. These findings enabled us to develop a crystal-structure based descriptor called the “pedal space,” which summarizes the steric environment into a single parameter and defines the minimum spatial requirement for solid-state photoisomerization. We refer to this behavior as topochemical photoisomerization, highlighting how subtle differences in packing, such as slipped versus co-facial stacking, can determine the photochemical outcome. This framework provides a structure-guided approach for designing solid-state photoswitchable materials with potential applications in future optoelectronic technologies.
這項研究探討一個有趣的問題：分子在固態中緊密排列，看似沒有活動空間，但有些化合物在照光後仍會「變形」並改變顏色。為了理解這個現象，我們分析了一系列水楊醛腙衍生物，並成功取得 16 種單晶結構。我們發現，只要反應位置附近保有些許「可活動空間」，即使晶體整體呈現平坦、緊密的堆疊，仍能發生光異構化。此外，我們透過系統評估 π–π 堆疊方式並量化反應途徑中的自由體積，清楚顯示局部空間大小與光反應性之間具有關鍵的正相關。 基於這些觀察，我們提出一項新的結構參數「pedal space」，用來衡量分子在晶體中是否有足夠空間完成光反應，並能預測哪些晶體具有光致變色潛力。我們將這種反應行為稱為「拓撲化光異構化」，強調即使是微小的堆疊差異，例如分子間的細微滑移，都會影響光反應是否能順利進行。這些概念可作為未來開發固態可光切換材料的設計基礎，應用於光電元件、記憶材料與智慧薄膜等領域。