We are delighted to share our new review article, “Catalytic Functionalization of Unactivated π-Bonds Enabled by Bidentate Directing Auxiliaries,” now published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition!

A defining theme of our group’s research over the past decade has been the use of bidentate directing auxiliaries to enable new catalytic functionalization reactions of π-bonds and to facilitate mechanistic elucidation. It has been gratifying to watch this approach gain widespread adoption across the synthetic community.

In this review, we join forces with the laboratory of Prof. Taeho Kang at Korea University to take stock of where the field stands — covering key developments in hydrofunctionalization, difunctionalization, and C–H activation across palladium, nickel, copper, and other transition-metal catalysts, and discussing the outstanding challenges and opportunities that will shape the next chapter of this chemistry.

Congratulations to all of the student coauthors: Seunghyeon Cho (Korea University), Al Vicente Riano D. Lisboa (Scripps Research), and Juntao Sun (Scripps Research). Thank you to Prof. Kang and the whole team for such a wonderful collaboration!

📄 Read the review in Angewandte Chemie International Edition: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.4046829

Congratulations to Engle lab member Juntao Sun, who successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation at Scripps Research this month. Juntao began his formal education at Nankai University, and first came to our group as an undergraduate intern in the summer of 2019, working under the mentorship of Dr. Mingyu Liu. We were then fortunate to recruit him into the Scripps Research Ph.D. program in 2021, making him the third former undergraduate intern in our group to go on to earn a doctoral degree here.

In his thesis research, Juntao developed new strategies for selective generation and functionalization of alkenylmetal intermediates, including unlocking copper(II) as a potent π-Lewis acid for alkyne functionalization. Juntao will now put this expertise to excellent use as part of the high-throughput experimentation team at Incyte, in Wilmington, Delaware. Congratulations, Dr. Sun — and thank you for everything you’ve brought to our lab!

We’re excited to share our solution to a longstanding challenge in asymmetric catalysis: the enantioselective anti-Michael addition of diverse (hetero)aryl groups to unsaturated carbonyl compounds. As every organic chemistry student learns, organometallic additions to Michael acceptors take place almost universally at the β-carbon. Our new Pd-catalyzed reaction overrides this intrinsic selectivity through a unique trans-Pd(Ar)(H) mechanism, delivering aryl groups directly to the α-position with up to 99% ee across a broad substrate scope. The key to unlocking this reactivity is (S,S)-(R,R)-PhTRAP, a chiral trans-spanning bisphosphine whose unusually wide bite angle simultaneously suppresses competing hydrodehalogenation and creates a well-defined chiral environment for stereoselection. DFT calculations, reaction kinetics, and organometallic experiments work together to reveal the multi-faceted role of this ligand throughout the catalytic cycle. Congratulations to the whole team, particularly Shenghua Yang, Alena Vasquez, Binh Mai, and Turki Alturaifi, and thank you to our collaborators at the University of Pittsburgh and Bristol Myers Squibb!

🧪 Check out the pre-print in ChemRxiv: https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15002500/v1

Congratulations to Engle Lab graduate student Yilin Cao, who has been selected as one of 22 members of the 2026 ACS Future Pharma Innovators cohort!

The program recognizes graduate students with strong scientific excellence and a passion for careers in pharma, pairing them with an industry mentor and supporting travel to present at the ACS Fall 2026 meeting in Chicago. Yilin will present her recently published work on Pd(II)-catalyzed cyclopropanation of unactivated alkenes using alkyl sulfonyl fluorides, published in Nature Synthesis. Congratulations, Yilin — well deserved!

📰 ACS Future Pharma Innovators: https://acsprof.org/awards/acs-future-pharma-innovators/

📄 Nature Synthesis paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44160-025-00925-1

Congratulations to Engle Lab undergraduate Beverly Mei, a junior at UCSD, who has been selected for a 2026 ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), and will spend the summer pursuing new directions in nickel catalysis!

The competitive SURF program awards $6,000 fellowships to outstanding undergraduate organic chemistry students based on their research proposals, academic records, and passion for laboratory science. Recipients carry out summer research at their home institution and are invited to present their work at an industry campus in the fall. Congratulations, Beverly — well deserved!

📰 Learn more about the DOC SURF Program: https://www.organicdivision.org/surf/

Phornphan (“Gift”) Yongpanich is wrapping up her time in the Engle lab and will be returning to Bangkok, Thailand, to finish her Ph.D. at the Chulabhorn Graduate Institute (CGI) with Prof. Jumreang Tummatorn. During her internship, Gift collaborated closely with Al on the development of new strategies for hydroamination of historically challenging olefin substrates, including sterically hindered and highly substituted systems. Her creativity, persistence, and collaborative spirit made a strong impact during her stay, and we are grateful for her contributions. We wish Gift all the best as she completes her doctoral studies and look forward to following her future successes.

This week the editorial board of the RSC journal Chem. Soc. Rev. announced the joint winners of the 2025 ChemSocRev Pioneering Investigator lectureship, recognizing Keary together with Prof. Garrett Miyake (Colorado State). Congrats to both awardees!

📰 Press release: https://blogs.rsc.org/cs/2026/02/26/announcing-keary-engle-and-garret-miyake-as-the-joint-winners-of-the-2025-chemsocrev-pioneering-investigator-lectureship/?doing_wp_cron=1772244342.7481739521026611328125

Over the past five years, our efforts to develop robust nickel precatalysts have revealed a key insight: stability alone isn’t enough. For practical, broadly useful catalysis, solubility across a wide range of organic solvents is just as critical.
In our latest preprint, we introduce a new family of bis(perfluoroaryl)nickel(II) precatalysts that combine exceptional stability, high solubility, and operational simplicity. Inspired by classic inorganic chemistry strategies, this design cleanly releases an inert (C₆F₅)₂ byproduct upon catalyst initiation—streamlining activation while maintaining performance.

The project was led by former postdoctoral scholar Nana Kim (now at Bristol Myers Squibb) and graduate student Aimee Bangerter, and brought together a talented, multidisciplinary team spanning Scripps Research, University of California San Diego, and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this outstanding collaborative effort!

🧪 ChemRxiv pre-print: https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15000413/v1

The Engle Lab is delighted to welcome Yuan Xu, a visiting undergraduate from Zhejiang University. At his home institution, Yuan conducts research in the laboratory of Professor Bing-Feng Shi.

In our lab, Yuan will be working under the mentorship of Wen-Ji on nickel pre-catalyst development and nickel-catalyzed olefin difunctionalization. We’re excited to have him join us and look forward to the contributions he’ll make during his time here.

Welcome to the Engle Lab, Yuan!

We’re excited to celebrate Masa as he wraps up his postdoctoral fellowship in the Engle Lab this week!

During his year with us, Masa developed innovative strategies for nickel-catalyzed 1,2-diarylation, advancing the lab’s work in powerful and practical ways. Beyond the bench, he generously shared insights from his experience as a medicinal chemist, enriching our group with real-world perspectives on drug discovery and development.

Masa now returns to Shionogi to continue his career in drug discovery, where he’ll carry forward his expertise in nickel catalysis and the collaborations built here.

Thank you, Masa, for your scientific contributions, mentorship, and the many great memories. We wish you every success in this next chapter!