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Gongfang Hu

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Gongfang Hu

Assistant Professor of Chemistry

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Chemistry

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Our lab is a place where "molecular architects" come together to design molecules for catalytic purposes. We don't just aim to create effective catalysts, but we strive to understand why they work the way they do, whether through successful attempts or unexpected results. We are constantly learning and revising our strategies, striving to "think like molecules."

One of our primary focuses is on the element bismuth, which is the heaviest non-radioactive element. Unlike its neighbours in the periodic table, bismuth is low-cost and low-toxic. Chemical catalysis traditionally relies on lighter main-group elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus to modulate the reactivity of transition metals. However, we ask: how do heavy main-group element such as bismuth differ from conventional lighter congeners such as nitrogen and phosphorus as donor ligands in modulating reactivity, electronic structure, and catalytic performance, and how can these differences be harnessed to reshaped catalytic cycles. Our research centers on a family of bismuth¨Csupported transition-metal complexes as catalysts for selective carbon¨Ccarbon bond formations.

As a student in our lab, you will gain invaluable knowledge across a broad spectrum of fields, including renewable energy sciences, chemical catalysis, synthesis, and electrochemistry. You will also learn practical skills such as organic and inorganic synthesis under normal or air-free conditions, molecular structural determination, electrochemical techniques, electrode preparation, and catalytic analysis. We welcome undergraduates who are passionate about these research directions to discuss possible research opportunities with us. We are excited to see what we can achieve together!

2009¨C2013, BS, Zhejiang University (Õã½­´óѧ), China

2013¨C2018, PhD Chemistry, North Carolina State University (with Jonathan Lindsey)

2018¨C2022, Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University (with Gary Brudvig, and Robert Crabtree)

CHEM 263 Organic Chemistry I and Lab

CHEM 264 Organic Chemistry II and Lab

CHEM 387 Special Topics: Structure and Analysis (Electrochemistry-focused)

CHEM 415 Organometallic Chemistry

CHEM 461 Organic Reaction Mechanism

CHEM 481 Advanced Chemistry Research

CHEM 482 Advance Chemistry Research

Independent Publications at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­

Undergraduate Co-Authors in Bold

25.  Gates, K.; Aoyama, Y.; Cao, H.; Hu, G.* "," Organometallics 2025, 816¨C823. 

24.  Cao, H.?; Aoyama, Y.?; Mast, K.; Zhu, R.; Hu, G.* "Precatalyst Evolution in PBiP-Pd Complexes for Electrocatalytic Proton Reduction," ChemRxiv, DOI: . ?Equal Contribution.

23.  Kwon, G*; Kisslinger, K.; Hwang, S.; Wright, G.; Layne, B.; Zhong, H.; Pattammattel, A.; Lynch, J.; Kim, J.; Hu, G.; Brudvig, G. W.; Lee, W.-I.; Nam, C.-Y. "Multielectrode Electrochemical Cell for in situ Structural Characterization of Amorphous Thin-Film Catalysts Using High-Energy X-Ray Scattering," J. Appl. Crystallogr. 2023, 56, 1392¨C1402.

Supervised Publications Prior to Colgate

22.  Liu, H.-Y.; Lant, H.; Troiano, J. T.; Hu, G.; Mercado, B. Q.; Crabtree, R. H.*; Brudvig, G. W.* ¡°Electrocatalytic, Homogeneous Ammonia Oxidation in Water to Nitrate and Nitrite with a Copper Complex,¡± J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 8449¨C8453.

21.   Bozal-Ginesta, C.; Rao, R.; Mesa, C. A.; Wang, Y.; Zhao, Y.; Hu, G.; Ant¨®n-Garc¨ªa, D.; Stephens, I.; Reisner, E.; Brudvig, G. W.; Wang, D.; Durrant, J.* ¡°Spectroelectrochemistry of Water Oxidation Kinetics in Molecular versus Heterogeneous Oxide Iridium Electrocatalysts,¡± J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 8454¨C8459.

20.   Hu, G.; Troiano, J. T.; Tayvah, U. T.; Sharninghausen, L. S.; Sinha, S. B.; Shopov, D. Y.; Crabtree, R. H.*; Brudvig, G. W.* ¡°Accessing Molecular Dimeric Ir Water-Oxidation Catalysts from Coordination Precursors¡±, Inorg. Chem. 2021, 60, 14349¨C14356.

19.  Kwon, G.*; Chang, S. H.*; Eun, H. J.; Lee, K. J.; Kim, J.-K.; Cho, B.-G.; Koo, T. Y.; Kim, B. J.; Kim, C.; Lee, J. H.; Bak, S.-M.; Beyer, K. A.; Zhong, H.; Koch, R.; Hwang, S.; Hu, G.; Brudvig, G. W.; Tiede, D. M.; Kim, J.* ¡°Experimental Verification of Ir 5d Orbital States and Atomic Structures in Highly Active Amorphous Iridium Oxide Catalysts,¡± ACS Catal. 2021, 11, 10084¨C10094.

18. Pattengale, B.; Neu, J.; Tada, A.; Hu, G.; Karpovich, C. J.; Brudvig, G. W.* ¡°Cation-Exchanged Conductive Mn2DSBDC Metal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis, Structure, and THz Conductivity,¡± Polyhedron 2021, 203, 115182.

17.  Hu, G.; Crabtree, R. H.*; Brudvig, G. W.* ¡°Organometallic Complexes as Preferred Precursors to Form Molecular Ir(Pyalk) Coordination Complexes for Catalysis of Oxygen Evolution,¡± Inorg. Chem. Acta 2021, 526, 120507.

16.  Liu, R.; Liu, S.; Hu, G.; Lindsey, J. S.* ¡°Aqueous Solubilization of Hydrophobic Tetrapyrrole Macrocycles by Attachment to an Amphiphilic Single-Chain Nanoparticle (SCNP),¡± New J. Chem. 2020, 44, 21293¨C21308.

15.  Wu, Y.#; Hu, G.#; Brudvig, G. W.*; Wang, H.* ¡°Heterogeneous Nature of Electrocatalytic CO/CO2 Reduction by Cobalt Phthalocyanines,¡± ChemSusChem 2020, 13, 6296¨C6299. (# indicates co-first authorship)

14.  Troiano, J. L.; Hu, G.; Crabtree, R. H.*; Brudvig, G. W.* ¡°Diazo Coupling for Surface Attachment of Small Molecules to TiO2 Nanoparticles,¡± Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 9340¨C9343.

13.  Hu, G.#; Jiang, J.#; Kelly, H. R.; Matula, A. J.; Wu, Y.; Romano, N.; Mercado, B. Q.; Wang, H.*; Batista, V. S.; Crabtree, R. H.; Brudvig, G. W.* ¡°Surprisingly Big Linker-Dependence of Activity and Selectivity in CO2 Reduction by an Iridium(I) Pincer Complex,¡± Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 9126¨C9129. (# indicates co-first authorship)

12. Pattengale, B.; Neu, J.; Ostresh, S.; Hu, G.; Spies, J. A.; Okabe, R.; Brudvig, G. W.*; Schmuttenmaer, C. A.* ¡°Metal¨COrganic Framework Photoconductivity via Time-Resolved Terahertz Spectroscopy,¡± J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 9793¨C9797.

11.  Lee, S. H.#; Matula, A. J.#; Hu, G.; Troiano, J. L.; Karpovich, C. J.; Crabtree, R. H.*; Batista, V. S.*; Brudvig, G. W.* ¡°Strongly Coupled Phenazine-Porphyrin Dyads: Light Harvesting Molecular Assemblies with Broad Absorption Coverage,¡± ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 8000¨C8008. (# indicates co-first authorship)

10.  Hu, G.; Kang, H. S.; Mandal, A. K.; Roy, A.; Kirmaier, C.; Bocian, D. F.*; Holten, D.*; Lindsey, J. S.* ¡°Synthesis of Arrays Containing Porphyrin, Chlorin, and Perylene-imide Constituents for Panchromatic Light-Harvesting and Charge Separation,¡± RSC Adv. 2018, 8, 23854¨C23874.

9.  Taniguchi, M.; Hu, G.; Liu, R.; Du, H.; Lindsey, J. S.* ¡°Red and Near-Infrared Fluorophores Inspired by Chlorophylls. Consideration of Practical Brightness in Multicolor Flow Cytometry and Biomedical Sciences,¡± Proc. S.P.I.E. 2018, Vol. 10508, 1050806.

8.  Mandal, A. K.; Diers, J. R.; Niedzwiedzki, D. M.; Hu, G.; Liu, R.; Alexy, E. J.; Lindsey, J. S.*; Bocian, D. F.*; Holten, D.* ¡°Tailoring Panchromatic Absorption and Excited-State Dynamics of Tetrapyrrole¨CChromophore (Bodipy, Rylene) Arrays. The Interplay of Orbital Mixing and Configuration Interaction,¡± J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 17547¨C17564.

7.  Zhang, S.; Reddy, M. N.; Mass, O.; Kim, H.-J.; Hu, G.; Lindsey, J. S.* ¡°Synthesis of Tailored Hydrodipyrrins and Their Examination in Directed Routes to Bacteriochlorins and Tetradehydrocorrins,¡± New J. Chem. 2017, 41, 11170¨C11189.

6.  Hu, G.#; Amanpour, A.#; Alexy, E. J.; Mandal, A. K.; Kang, H. S.; Yuen, J. M.; Diers, J. R.; Bocian, D. F.*; Lindsey, J. S.*; Holten, D.* ¡°Tuning the Electronic Structure and Properties of Perylene¨CPorphyrin¨CPerylene Panchromatic Absorbers,¡± J. Phys. Chem. A 2016, 120, 7434¨C7450. (# indicates co-first authorship)

5.  Hu, G.; Liu, R.; Alexy, E. J.; Mandal, A. K.; Bocian, D. F.*; Holten, D.*; Lindsey, J. S.* ¡°Panchromatic Chromophore¨CTetrapyrrole Light-Harvesting Arrays Constructed from Bodipy, Perylene, Terrylene, Porphyrin, Chlorin, and Bacteriochlorin Building Blocks,¡± New J. Chem. 2016, 40, 8032¨C8052.

4.  Hu, X.; Hu, G.; Crawford, K.; Gorman, C. B. ¡°Comparison of the Growth and Degradation of Poly(glycolic acid) and Poly(e-caprolactone) Brushes,¡± J. Poly. Sci. Part A: Poly. Chem. 2013, 51, 4643¨C4649.

3. Li, J.; Hu, G.; Wang, N.; Hu, T.; Wen, Q.; Lu, P.*; Wang, Y.* ¡°Oligo(3,6-phenanthrene ethynylenes): Synthesis, Characterization, and Photoluminescence,¡± J. Org. Chem. 2013, 78, 3001¨C3008.

2.  Li, J.; Hu, G.; Li, X.; Hu, B.; Wang, N.; Lu, P.*; Wang, Y.* ¡°9,11,12,14-Tetraaryldibenzo[f,h]imidazo[1,2-b]isoquinolines and Their Emission Responses to Solvent Polarity, Acidity, and Nitroarenes,¡± Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2013, 7320¨C7327.

1.  Li, J.; Hu, B.; Hu, G.; Li, X.; Lu, P.*; Wang, Y.. ¡°An Efficient Synthesis of Heptaaryldipyrromethenes from Tetraarylcyclopentadienones and Ammonium Acetate and Their Extension of the Corresponding BODIPYs,¡± Org. Biomol. Chem. 2012, 10, 8848¨C8859.