李朝军教授等荣获2025年The Palladium Global Science Award

李朝军教授等荣获2025年The Palladium Global Science Award

近日，2025年The Palladium Global Science Award（钯全球科学奖）获奖者名单揭晓。该奖项分为三个类别：Best Scientific Development（最佳科学发展奖）、Best Scientific Article（最佳科学论文奖）和Best Applied Concept（最佳应用概念奖）。其中最佳科学发展奖一等奖获得者为加拿大麦吉尔大学Chao-Jun Li（李朝军）教授，奖金为12万美元；二等奖获得者为日本东京大学Makoto Fujita教授，奖金为6万美元；最佳科学论文奖一等奖获得者为印度德里大学Natesan Thirupathi教授，奖金为8万美元；二等奖获得者为美国德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校Michael Joseph Krische教授，奖金为4万美元；最佳应用概念奖获得者为沙特萨勒曼本阿卜杜勒阿齐兹王子大学Safa Faris Kayed副教授，奖金为5万美元。

获奖名单网址：https://www.palladiumaward.com/news/the-palladium-global-science-award-announces-2025-winners/

Best Scientific Development — First Place: Chao-Jun Li

Name:Chao-Jun Li

Position:Distinguished James McGill Chair Professor, McGill University, Canada

Nomination:Best Scientific Development

Placement:First Place

Project:Photosynthesis of CH₃OH via oxygen–atom grafting from CO₂ to CH₄ enabled by AuPd/Ga

Scientific significance:The work demonstrates a method that enables the direct conversion of two major greenhouse gases – methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) – into valuable chemical products. Using a palladium-based catalyst, a reaction was initiated in which an oxygen atom from CO₂ attaches to a CH₄ molecule. As a result, green methanol and carbon monoxide are formed.

The process operates at room temperature, displaying potential for scaling up and industrial implementation. Not only does Chao-Jun Li propose a revolutionary pathway for methanol production, but also simultaneously addresses the problem of greenhouse gas utilization, reducing its impact on climate change.

Prize:$120,000

Best Scientific Development — Second Place: Makoto Fujita

Name:Makoto Fujita

Position:Distinguished Professor, University of Tokyo and Institute for Molecular Science, Japan

Nomination:Best Scientific Development

Placement:Second Place

Project:Self-assembly construction of cages and porous molecular materials via coordination chemistry

Scientific significance:The major achievement of Makoto Fujita is the introduction of a new construction principle: metal-directed self-assembly. In his seminal 1990 paper, Fujita used this metal-directed self-assembly principle to construct a molecular square with 4 palladium(II) atoms at its corners. Since then, Fujita’s group and, subsequently, a large number of research groups worldwide have used this construction principle to assemble increasingly more complex nanostructures and materials.

In summary, Makoto Fujita has pioneered a novel principle of metal-directed self-assembly using Pd(II) ions and developed in a magisterial fashion the functions, extensions and applications of these objects, capably addressing many of society’s needs.

Prize:$60,000

Best Scientific Article — First Place: Natesan Thirupathi

Name:Natesan Thirupathi

Position:Senior Professor, Delhi University, India

Nomination:Best Scientific Article

Placement:First Place

Article:CNN palladium(II) pincer complexes containing N-substituted monoanionic and dianionic guanidinate ligands: Syntheses, structural aspects, and their utility in Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions

Scientific significance:Natesan Thirupathi has been working in organopalladium compounds since 2003. These complexes are extremely useful as catalysts in norbornene polymerization and cross-coupling reactions. Further, cyclopalladated guanidinate complexes are useful platforms for the study of fundamental organometallic reactivity alkyne insertion, depalladation and more. At the same time, they revealed intriguing solution behaviour, which was observed using low variable temperature NMR spectroscopy. A solid training given to the research scholars by the applicant (Thirupathi) has helped them to thoroughly understand organometallic chemistry in general and organopalladium chemistry in particular.

Prize:$80,000

Best Scientific Article — Second Place: Michael Joseph Krische

Name:Michael Joseph Krische

Position:Professor, Robert A. Welch Chair in Science, the University of Texas at Austin, USA

Nomination:Best Scientific Article

Placement:Second Place

Article:Aryl halide cross-coupling via formate-mediated transfer hydrogenation

Scientific significance:Catalytic hydrogenation and metal-catalyzed cross-coupling are among the most broadly utilized chemical transformations in drug discovery and manufacture. In breakthrough work with researchers at Genentech, University of Pittsburgh and University of Minnesota, the Krische laboratory has merged these two processes, enabling direct cross-coupling of organic halides via hydrogen transfer using sodium formate, an abundant, safe and environmentally benign hydrogen transfer agent. This method bypasses the conversion of organic halides to premetalated cross-coupling partners using hazardous organometallic reagents.

Prize:$40,000

Best Applied Concept — First Place: Safa Faris Kayed

Name:Safa Faris Kayed

Position:Associate Professor, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia

Nomination:Best Applied Concept

Placement:First Place

Project:Development of a palladium-based photocatalytic smart device for in situ degradation of industrial dyes and pharmaceutical wastewater

Scientific significance:The product, named PalladClear™, is an innovative photocatalytic device designed for the on-site treatment of industrial wastewater. It targets the effective degradation of hazardous organic dyes and pharmaceutical residues commonly found in effluents from textile and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants. The device integrates a novel palladium-based photocatalyst embedded in a fixed-bed reactor chamber and activated by either ultraviolet or gamma radiation. Once connected to the sewage outlets of industrial facilities, the system enables continuous in situ photocatalytic degradation of contaminants before the wastewater is discharged.

The scientific novelty of this product lies in its core material: newly synthesized palladium mixed-ligand complexes using organic phenolic ligands, which serve as the active photocatalysts.

A number of such mixed-ligand complexes will be synthesized and characterized, varying the organic phenolic ligands to modulate structural and electronic properties. Among the synthesized complexes, the one demonstrating the highest photocatalytic performance and reusability will be selected for integration into the final version of the device.

Prize:$50,000