AWARDEE OF CHEMISTRY PRIZE
CHEN QINGYUN
Chen Qingyun, an organic chemist，professor of Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was born on January 25, 1929， in Yuan Jiang, Hunan Province, graduated from Department of Chemistry, Peking University in 1952. He was a graduate student in 1956-1960 at Institute of Elementoorganic Compounds USSR under academican I. Knynunts and Dr. N. Gambaryn. A new monomer, hexafluoro-bisphenol A, was synthesized for the first time and patented in USSR.
He returned to China after receiving candidate Ph. D. in 1960. Since then, Professor Chen has been engaged in applications and basic research of organic fluorine chemistry. He participated and directed the research and production of a new chromic acid mist suppressing agent F-53 (potassium salt of perfluoroalkylether sulfonate) which has been utilizing widely in electro-chromoplating factories since 1982 for elimination of chromic acid mist pollution. Meanwhile, his group prepared and characterized many perfluoroalkanesulfonic acids and their derivatives. For example, only the sulfur-oxygen bond cleavage was observed for the reaction of fullyl fluororinated alkyl alkane-sulfonates (RFSO3RF) with nucleophiles. This is the first example showing why perfluoroalkanes are inactive toward SN2. He extended the Heck reaction to aryl SP2carbon through RFSO3C6H5, thus making alkyldehydroxylation of phenols as a widely useful method.
He prepared 13 new difluorocarbene precursors, five of which have been proved to be good trifluoromethylation reagents for alkyl halides. Unlike previous reports on generation of difluorocarbene from its precursor only in alkali medium, his group found that difluorocarbene can be produced in strongly acidic medium.
In last two decades he systematically investigated the single electron transfer reactions of perfluoroakyl iodides in the presence of metals. transition metals, oxidations, nucleophiles or UV irradiation and successfully introduced perfluoroalkyl, pentafluorophenyl or iododifluoromethyl group into organic molecules.
Recently, he focused his interest in the activation of inert carbon-chlorine of fluoroalkyl chlorides. Either changing solvent in the sulfinatodehalogenation reaction or using Ni(O), can activate perfluoroalkyl chlorides to undergo a quite variety of reactions. His contribution to freon alternatives, i.e. conversion of HCFC133a
(CF3CH2Cl) into HFC134a by liquid-phase KF-fluorination, is also involved in the activation of carbon-chlorine bond of HCFC133a by super-critical water. Very recently, Professor Chen investigated “Synthesis and Applications of Fluorinated Porphyrins” and found some good results.
Professor Chen was elected the academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1993. He has published more than 190 scientific papers,and trained twenty three Ph. D. students. He received several awards, including a second class of National Prize in Nature Science (1989), third class of Natural Prize in Nature Science (1982), third class of National Discovery Prize (1982). He is now the editor in chief of Chinese Journal of Organic Chemistry.
