Yongming Deng

Yongming Deng is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), specializing in innovative synthetic methodologies for biologically relevant compounds through interdisciplinary organic, inorganic, and medicinal chemistry approaches.

Education:

• Postdoctoral Training (2014-2017): University of Maryland and University of Texas at San Antonio
• Ph.D. (2014): Miami University
• B.S. (2009): Shandong University, China

Dr. Deng's research integrates asymmetric catalysis, photochemistry, and electrochemistry to develop novel transformations using carbene/carbenoid and nitrene/nitrenoid chemistry. The group emphasizes green synthesis techniques including organic electrosynthesis and base metal catalysis, with strong focus on heterocycle construction and alkynes activation for pharmaceutical applications. Students gain advanced skills in NMR spectroscopy, liquid chromatography, and mechanistic analysis.

Recent publications reveal a dominant trend in photoredox catalysis using pyridine N-oxides as radical mediators, enabling carbohydroxylation, aminohydroxylation, and cascade annulations of unsaturated systems. This work bridges fundamental mechanistic studies with sustainable synthesis of complex heterocycles, demonstrating strong interdisciplinary impact across synthetic methodology and medicinal chemistry.

Awards and honors:

• NIGMS Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (2023)
• ACS PRF New Directions Award (2023)
• ACS PRF (2018)
• Research Award for Tenure-Track Faculty SOS (2024)

Dr. Deng directs the Deng Research Group with active NIGMS R35 MIRA and ACS PRF funding, mentoring multiple graduate and undergraduate researchers. His advisees have earned prestigious recognitions including the Beckman Scholar award and ACS undergraduate honors. The program emphasizes collaborative training with external partners like Mathew Vetticatt's group and maintains strong industry connections through summer research programs.

The Deng Research Group operates from IUPUI's LD 326C facility as part of the vibrant chemistry community, maintaining active collaborations and memberships in the International Society of Heterocyclic Chemistry and American Chemical Society. Current projects focus on expanding photochemical methodologies for sustainable pharmaceutical synthesis while recruiting new graduate students through IUPUI's Ph.D. program.