»09/2004-08/2009 University of Toronto, Organic and biological chemistry, Ph.D
»03/2000-01/2004 Seoul National University, Organic chemistry, M.Sc
»03/1996-02/2000 Seoul National University, chemistry, B.S
Professional Experiences
»01/2011-present Assistant Professor, KAIST.
»09/2009-12/2010 Postdoctoral Researcher, Columbia University
»00/2006-present Chief Technology Officer, Diaminopham,Inc.
Awards
»Government of canada Awards(2004-2006)
»Asian-Core Program Lectureship Award(2012)
RESEARCH AREA
Brief Introduction
Our research group is interested in the development of highly selective and efficient catalysts that mediate fundamentally interesting and useful organic reactions. More specifically, we are focusing on the development of stereoselective catalysts to make chiral compounds with high enantiopurity which are valuable for pharmaceutical industry. We creatively adopt computational chemistry not only to interpret the outcome of the reaction but also to predict the selectivity and reactivity in the course of the reaction. Our goal is to design and develop efficient stereoselective catalysts directly applicable to the industrial processes.
Research topics
1) Stereoselective catalysis: developing organocatalysis and transition-metal catalysts
2) Computational organic chemistry & molecular recognition: finding a new approach to catalyst design
3) Green chemistry: developing practical catalysts and reagents
