Address:School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, P. R. China

Phone: 86-25-89683072

E-mail: njuzy@nju.edu.cn

Education and Research Experience:

1993-1997      B.S. Jilin University

1997-2002      Ph.D. Nanjing University

2002-2004      Postdoc in HongKong University of Science and Technology

2004-2006      Postdoc in Stanford University, Molecular Imaging Programm of Stanford

2006-present   Professor of chemistry in Nanjing University

Research interests:

Optochemical biology, with focus on the development of photo-induced bioorthogonal reactions and the exploration on the chemical and biological applications of biocompatible photo-reactions.

Selected Publications:

1. Jinbo Li; Hao Kong, Lei Huang, Bo Cheng, Ke Qin, Mengmeng Zheng, Zheng Yan and Yan Zhang*, Visible Light-Initiated Bioorthogonal Photoclick Cycloaddition, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140, 14542-14546.
2. J. Li, L. Huang, X. Xiao, Y. Chen, X. Wang, Z. Zhou, C. Zhang*, Y. Zhang* Photo-Clickable MicroRNA for the Intracellular Target Identification of MicroRNAs. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 15943–15949.
3. M. Zhou, J. Hu, M. Zheng, Q. Song, J. Li*, Y. Zhang* Photo-click construction of a targetable and activatable two-photon probe imaging protease in apoptosis. Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 2432−2435.
4. J. Li, R. Kooger, M. He, X. Xiao, L. Zheng, Y. Zhang* Supramolecular hydrogel as carrier to deliver microRNA into the encapsulated cells. Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 3722−3724. 
5. Jinbo Li, Subee Tan, Romain Kooger, Chenyu Zhang* and Yan Zhang*, MicroRNAs as novel biological targets for detection and regulation, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 506 - 517. (back cover paper in Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, issue 2)
6. Mingtao He, Jinbo Li, Subee Tan, Ruzhi Wang and Yan Zhang, Photodegradable Supramolecular Hydrogels with Fluorescence Turn-On Reporter for Photomodulation of Cellular Microenvironments, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 18718-18721. (cover paper in J. Am. Chem. Soc. Issue 50,  2013).
7. Heng Jiang, Yuanzheng Cheng, Ruzhi Wang, Mengmeng Zheng, Yan Zhang,* and Shouyun Yu*, Synthesis of 6-Alkylated Phenanthridine Derivatives using Photoredox Neutral Somophilic Isocyanide Insertion，Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2013，52, 13289-13292.
8. Wei Wang, Wen-Jie Zhang, Lei Wang, Ching Kheng Quah, Hoong-Kun Fun, Jian-Hua Xu* and Yan Zhang*，Photoinduced reactions of para-quinones with bicyclopropylidene leading to diverse polycyclic compounds with spirocyclopropanes，J. Org. Chem. 2013, 78, 6211−6222.
9. Heng Jiang, Chengmei Huang, Jiajia Guo, Chuanqi Zeng, Yan Zhang,* and Shouyun Yu*, Direct C-H Functionalization of Enamides and Enecarbamates by Using Visible-Light Photoredox Catalysis, Chem. Eur. J., 2012, 18, 15158-15166.
10. Jinbo Li, Kai Chen, Hongguang Liu, Kai Cheng, Meng Yang, Jiping Zhang, Jonathan D. Cheng, Yan Zhang,* and Zhen Cheng*, Activatable Near-Infrared Fluorescent Probe for In Vivo Imaging of Fibroblast Activation Protein-alpha, Bioconjugate Chem. 2012, 23, 1704−1711.
11. Xuejiao Chen, Chengmei Huang, Wenjie Zhang, Yihan Wu, Xi Chen*, Chen-yu Zhang* and Yan Zhang*, Universal activator of microRNAs identified from photoreaction products, Chem. Commun., 2012, 48, 6432–6434.
12. Dongdong Wu, Lei Wang, Kai Xu, Jia Song, Hoong-Kun Fun, Jianhua Xu and Yan Zhang*，Facile and highly atom-economic approach to biaryl-containing medium-ring bislactones.Chem. Commun., 2012, 48, 1168 – 1170.
13. Lei Wang, Yu-Cheng Huang, Yang Liu, Hoong-Kun Fun, Yan Zhang*, Jian-Hua Xu*. Photoinduced [4+4], [4+2] and [2+2] cycloadditions of o-quinones with oxazoles — chemo-, regio- and diastereoselectivity. J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 7757-7761.
14. Haitao Yu, Jinbo Li, Zhuangfei Kou, Xuewen Du, Yi Wei, Hoong-Kun Fun, Jianhua Xu and Yan Zhang*， Photoinduced Tandem Reactions of Isoquinoline-1,3,4-trione with Alkynes To Build Aza-polycycles， J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 2989-2992.
15. Haitao Yu, Jinbo Li, Dongdong Wu, Zhenjun Qiu and Yan Zhang*, Chemistry and biological applications of photo-labile organic molecules Chem. Soc. Rev., 2010, 39, 464-469.
16. Manlung Ma, Yi Kuang, Yuan Gao, Yan Zhang, Ping Gao, and Bing Xu*, Aromatic-Aromatic Interactions Induce the Self-Assembly of Pentapeptidic Derivatives in Water To Form Nanofibers and Supramolecular Hydrogels, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2010, 132, 1719-1728.
17. Zhenjun Qiu, Haitao Yu, Jinbo Li, Yu Wang and Yan Zhang*, Spiropyran-linked dipeptide forms supramolecular hydrogel with dual responses to light and to ligand–receptor interaction Chem. Commun., 2009, 3342-3346.
18. Hequan Yao, Yan Zhang, Fei Xiao, Zuyong Xia, Jianghong Rao*, Quantum Dot/Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer Based Highly Sensitive Detection of Proteases, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.， 2007, 46, 4346-4350.
19. Yan Zhang, Min-kyung So and Jianghong Rao*, Protease-Modulated Cellular Uptake of Quantum Dots Nano Lett. 2006, 6, 1988-1993.
20. Yan Zhang, Min-kyung So, Andreas M. Loening, Hequan Yao, Sanjiv S. Gambhir, and Jianghong Rao*, HaloTag Protein-Mediated Specific Conjugation of Bioluminescent Proteins to Quantum Dots Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.， 2006， 45， 4936-4940.
21. Yan Zhang, Zhimou Yang, Fang Yuan, Hongwei Gu, Ping Gao and Bing Xu*, Molecular Recognition Remolds the Self-Assembly of Hydrogelators and Increases the Elasticity of the Hydrogel by 106-Fold J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2004, 126, 15028-15032.
22. Yan Zhang, Lei Wang, Min Zhang, Hoong Kun Fun and Jian-Hua Xu*, Photoinduced [4 + 4] Cycloadditions of o-Quinones with Oxazoles Org. Lett., 2004, 6, 4893-4899.
23. Yan Zhang, Hongwei Gu, Zhimou Yang and Bing Xu*, Supramolecular Hydrogels Respond to Ligand-Receptor Interaction J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2003, 125, 13680-13685.