Wenbang
upwinder.bsky.social
Wenbang
@upwinder.bsky.social
Postdoc and PhD at @crimmingroup in Imperial College London
Reposted by Wenbang
🔥Excited to share our latest: "C(sp2)–H Bond Activation with a Heterometallic Nickel---Aluminium Complex” Now out in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social w/ @crimmingroup.bsky.social

Work done by PhD student, Joseph A. Zurakowski w/ Benedek Stadler & Mark Crimmin! 💪

tinyurl.com/3bbj56nw
July 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Wenbang
New preprint from @upwinder.bsky.social on the synthesis of a novel alumaborane containing an AlH-BH functional group along with some chemoselective reactivity. Here's the link. chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
July 10, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Reposted by Wenbang
Our latest now out @chemrxiv.bsky.social - some beautiful Ni/Al chemistry from Joey in collaboration with Benedek and @crimmingroup.bsky.social! 🔥🔥

chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
May 14, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Reposted by Wenbang
Our final @chemrxiv.bsky.social preprint of the week comes from @upwinder.bsky.social who investigated reactions of CO and an isocyanide with complexes containing Al–Mg bonds. The highlight is this interesting new coupling product. chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
May 2, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Wenbang
Exciting new @chemrxiv.bsky.social preprint from @pentaleniko.bsky.social, @sarahlpatrick.bsky.social , @andreasphanopoulos.bsky.social and Jiahuang Mao. They report a simple transfer fluorination method to recycle fluoride content of HFCs, HFOs, fluoroethers, and PFAS. chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
April 30, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Reposted by Wenbang
New paper out today in @natsynth.nature.com
from Wenbang Yang. We describe addition of Zn–Zn bonds to main group carbenes. The system nicely illustrates the continuum between oxidative addition and reductive addition processes. rdcu.be/ejPSS
April 29, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Wenbang
We have a PhD scholarship opportunity to look at remediation of fluorine-containing pesticides available through the @granthamicl.bsky.social at Imperial. More details here: www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/edu...
Grantham PhD Opportunities
Applicants can apply for any of the following projects (please see application details in the invidual project pdfs). The application deadline is 25...
www.imperial.ac.uk
March 28, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by Wenbang
Wenbang's @upwinder.bsky.social work on using group 13 fluoride complexes as catalysts for thiodefluorination and hydrodefluorination of electron-deficient arenes is now out in Inorg. Chem. Here is a link: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Boron, Aluminum, and Gallium Fluorides as Catalysts for the Defluorofunctionalization of Electron-Deficient Arenes: The Role of NaBArF4 Promoters
A series of boron, aluminum, and gallium difluoride complexes [{(ArNCMe)2CH}MF2] (M = B, Al, Ga) are reported as catalysts for the defluorofunctionalization of electron-deficient arenes. Thiodefluorination reactions between TMS–SPh and poly(fluorinated aromatics) proceed under forcing conditions. Evidence is presented for the fluoride entering the catalytic cycle through a metathesis reaction with TMS–SPh to form metal thiolate intermediates, e.g., [{(ArNCMe)2CH}MF(SPh)], which are then nucleophiles for addition to the aromatic substrate, likely through a concerted SNAr mechanism. Attempts to expand the scope of reactivity to include the hydrodefluorination of electron-deficient arenes met with limited success. Activity could, however, be recovered through the addition of NaBArF4 as a catalytic additive (ArF = 3,5-C6H3(CF3)2). NMR titrations suggest that NaBArF4 is capable of coordinating with aluminum and gallium fluoride complexes, most likely through weak M–F---Na interactions (M = Al, Ga), and can play a role in lowering the barrier of metathesis between [{(ArNCMe)2CH}MF2] and Et3SiH to form the group 13 hydrido fluoride [{(ArNCMe)2CH}M(H)F], facilitating catalytic turnover. DFT calculations indicate that this weak interaction leads to a polarization of the M–F bond. The discovery of this additive effect has potentially broad implications in developing new reactivity and applications of thermodynamically stable metal fluorides.
pubs.acs.org
March 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Wenbang
We have an open 3rd year Research Associate position in the group to work on heterometallic complexes for C–H activation. Come join us and have fun playing with metals. Deadline to apply is 3rd of April. More details here. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMJ763/r...
March 21, 2025 at 9:39 AM