Professional Profile
Liu Leo Liu is an Associate Professor and tenure-track faculty member at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), where he leads a dedicated research team focusing on the development of multi-active ambiphilic main group centers. He has been a member of the Early Career Advisory Board for several prestigious journals, including Chem (2020-2023), the European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry (since 2022), Chinese Chemical Letters (since 2022), Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers (since 2024) and Acta Chimica Sinica (since 2024). His contributions to chemistry have been recognized with several awards, including the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS) Young Chemist Award (2022), the CCS Jingqing Rising Star Award (2022), the Huang Yao-Zeng Organometallic Chemistry Award for Young Chemists (2023-2024), the Distinguished Lectureship Award from the Chemical Society of Japan (2024) and the Chinese Chemical Society-Royal Society of Chemistry Young Chemist Award (2024).
Education and Employment:
June 2022 - present: Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech),
Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Associate Professor (Tenure-track)
Sept 2020 - May 2022: Department of Chemistry, SUSTech,
Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Assistant Professor (Tenure-track)
Oct 2019 - Aug 2020: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory &
University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Post-doctoral Scholar
Advisors: Profs. F. Dean Toste, Kenneth N. Raymond and Robert G. Bergman
Oct 2016 - Sept 2019: University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Post-doctoral Fellow
Advisor: Prof. Douglas W. Stephan
Oct 2015 - Jun 2016: Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry (5th year)
Advisor: Prof. Yufen Zhao
Oct 2013 - Oct 2015: University of California, San Diego, California, USA
Joint Ph.D. study in Inorganic Chemistry (3rd-4th years)
Advisor: Prof. Guy Bertrand
Sept 2011 - Oct 2013: Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
Ph.D. study in Organic Chemistry (1st-2nd years)
Advisor: Prof. Yufen Zhao
Sept 2007 - Jul 2011: Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
B.Sc. in Chemistry
Advisor: Prof. Yufen Zhao
Conference or Academic Communication after SUSTech:
38) 双亲性铝宾, 2025氟氮化学与先进材料创新学术交流会日程, Shanghai, China (Feb 16, 2025) (invited lecture)
37) 双亲主族分子, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China (Jan 16, 2025) (invited lecture) (Host: Prof. Wei Zeng)
36) 双亲性铝化合物, 第十二届岭南有机化学会议, Guangzhou, China (Dec 15, 2024) (invited lecture)
35) 双亲性碳化合物, 广州分子工程+国际峰会, 2024年度合成化学青年学者学术交流研讨会, Guangzhou, China (Nov 9, 2024) (invited lecture)
34) 双亲性碳化合物, 2024年度合成化学青年学者学术交流研讨会, Changchun, China (Sept 23, 2024) (invited lecture)
33) 双亲性碳化合物, 化学未来：《化学学报》2024 青年论坛, Kunming, China (Sept 21, 2024) (invited lecture)
32) 双亲性碳元素化合物, 中国化学会第二十二届全国金属有机化学学术讨论会, Tianjin, China (Aug 21, 2024) (invited award lecture)
31) Isolable Stannyne and Carbenes with an Inverted Electronic Configuration, the 26th International Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry, Beijing, China (Aug 20, 2024) (invited lecture)
30) 双亲性碳元素化合物, 合成化学前沿研讨会, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China (Aug 18, 2024) (invited lecture) (Host: Prof. Jun-An Ma)
29) Isolable Stannyne and Carbenes with an Inverted Electronic Configuration, 45th International Conference on Coordination Chemistry, Fort Collins, USA (July 30, 2024) (invited lecture)
28) Isolable Stannyne and Carbenes with an Inverted Electronic Configuration, 14th International Conference on Heteroatom Chemistry, Tianjin, China (July 16, 2024) (invited lecture)
27) 双亲性主族元素化合物, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China (June 19, 2024) (invited lecture) (Host: Prof. Zhongshu Li)
26) 反电子态双亲性卡宾, the 34nd Chinese Chemical Society Congress, Guangzhou, China (June 17, 2024) (invited lecture)
25) Exploring the Frontiers of Low-Valent Carbon: Isolable Carbyne Anions and Carbenes with Inverted Electronic Configurations, The 104th CSJ Annual Meeting, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan (Mar 19, 2024) (invited keynote award lecture) (Host: Prof. Makoto Yamashita)
24) Ambiphilic Carbon Compounds, 金属卡宾前沿交叉论坛, Northwest University, Xi'an, China (Feb 25, 2024) (invited lecture) (Host: Prof. Ying-Feng Han)
23) Ambiphilic Main Group Compounds, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China (Dec 22, 2023) (invited lecture) (Host: Prof. Yaofeng Chen)
22) Ambiphilic Main Group Compounds, Peking University, Beijing, China (Dec 8, 2023) (invited OPSS lecture) (Host: Prof. Yan Xu)
21) Enhancing Stability of Monometal-Substituted Carbene, Carbyne Anion Complex, and Free Stannyne with Phosphino Substituents, 24th International Conference on Phosphorus Chemistry, Ningbo, China (Nov 14, 2023) (invited lecture)
20) Multi-Active Ambiphilic Main Group Elements, 2023年合成化学青年学者学术交流研讨会, Guangzhou, China (Nov 6, 2023) (invited lecture)
19) Multi-Active Ambiphilic Main Group Elements, 南开大学元素有机国家重点实验室2023年学术年会, Nankai University, Tianjin, China (Oct 21, 2023) (invited lecture)
18) Stabilization of Ambiphilic Phosphorus-Boron Multiple Bonds, 中国化学会第四届硼化学会议, Fuzhou, China (Sept 23, 2023) (invited lecture)
17. Multi-Active Ambiphilic Main Group Elements, 河南省硼化学与先进能源材料实验室成立五周年学术研讨会, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China (Aug 2, 2023) (Host: Profs Xuenian Chen and Qianyi Zhao) (invited lecture)
16. Tri-Active Ambiphilic Carbon Centers, The 33rd Chinese Chemical Society Congress, Qingdao, China (June 18, 2023). (invited lecture)
15. Multi-Active Ambiphilic Main Group Elements, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China (May 12, 2023) (Host: Profs Zhifang Li and Liliang Wang) (invited lecture)
14. Multi-Active Ambiphilic Main Group Elements, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, China (April 17, 2023) (Host: Prof. Kuanguan Liu) (invited lecture)
13. Tri-Active Ambiphilic Carbon Centers, 中国化学会第六届菁青论坛, Lanzhou, China (April 16, 2023) (invited lecture for awardee)
12. Tri-Active Ambiphilic Carbon Centers, 中国化学会第八届全国结构化学学术会议, Fuzhou, China (April 3, 2023) (invited lecture)
11. Multi-Active Ambiphilic Main Group Elements, 第二届活性反应中间体化学研讨会, Hefei, China (April 1, 2023) (Host: Profs Zhenhua Gu and Hanmin Huang) (invited lecture)
10. Tri-Active Ambiphilic Carbon Centers, The 17th National Synthetic Organic Chemistry Symposium, Jinan, China (Nov 12, 2022) (invited lecture)
9. Tri-Active Ambiphilic Aluminium Centers, The 12th National Organic Chemistry Conference, Hefei, China (Sept 27, 2022) (invited lecture)
8. Tri-Active Ambiphilic Carbon Centers, The 9th Chinese Coordination Chemistry Conference, Zhengzhou, China (Aug 24, 2022) (invited lecture)
7. Ambiphilicity at Main Group Element Centers, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Host: Prof. Jiaxiang Chu), China (invited lecture) (Dec. 09, 2021)
6. The Dynamic Nature of Organophosphorus Compounds, Suzhou Research Institute of Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics (Host: Prof. Lipeng Wu), China (invited lecture) (July 17, 2021)
5. The Dynamic Nature of Organophosphorus Compounds, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (Host: Prof. Chao Zheng), China (invited lecture) (July 16, 2021)
4. Phosphirene-Phosphinidene Rearrangement, The 32nd Chinese Chemical Society Congress, Zhuhai, China (April 19, 2021)
3. Phosphorus: The Carbon Copy, Shandong University (Host: Prof. Lingbing Kong), China (invited lecture) (Dec 11, 2020)
2. A Journey with Phosphorus, Zhengzhou University (Host: Prof. Zheng Duan), China (invited lecture) (Nov 23, 2020)
1. A Journey with Phosphorus, Ningbo University (Host: Profs Yufen Zhao and Yile Wu), China (invited lecture) (Nov 11, 2020)