My independent research program addresses a long-standing challenge in molecular catalysis and main-group chemistry: how to achieve metalloenzyme-like reactivity (multi-electron transfer, radical/polar pathway switching, and steric gating) using well-defined molecular complexes earth-abundant elements. Many demanding transformations are synthetically limited because a single reactive center cannot simultaneously optimize substrate binding, electron flow, bond scission/formation, and product release. In biological and heterogeneous systems, these issues are resolved by cooperation: multiple reactive sites, adaptive binding pockets, and electronically buffered intermediates. The driving force of my research is to make cooperation programmable in molecular chemistry so that strong-bond activation and catalytic manifolds become predictable by design rather than discovered by serendipity. We build cooperative scaffolds through three levers: (i) isolating low-coordinate, low-valent main-group donors with quantified σ-donating ability, (ii) using metal fragments to program main-group-centered switchable 2e/1e chemistry, (iii) designing multi-center transition-metal or main-group assemblies whose geometry and redox state respond to substrates. Our methodology progresses from molecular design → targeted synthesis → quantitative benchmarking → mechanistic/computational analysis → catalytic demonstration.
