N-Heterocyclic Carbenes

Belated Gregorian and Lunar New Year update

Vinh — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:45:08 +0000

At the end of 2011, Uma and Linfei left us and went back to their homes in India and China, respectively. On the other hand, our small team was strengthend by Dr. Lee Chen-Shiang from Taiwan, who joined in November 11. Hopefully, his stay will be fruitful for himself and our research. Early 2012, we have already some good news. Haresh has published the results of his final year project as his first paper in Organometallics, and Yuan Dan has finally had her Ph.D. defence yesterday after a very long waiting time. Soon she will be Dr. Yuan Dan. Congratulations!

A new Semester…

Vinh — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:51:21 +0000

A new semester has started accompanied by a “seasonal” change of our team. Our Honours students have successfully graduated and our UROPS students have moved on after completing their projects. I wish them all the best for their endeavors. I am happy, that Haresh has decided to pursue a master degree in NHC chemistry. In addition, Christine Koh has joined the team for her Final Year Project, and Stefan M. J. Mitzinger visits our lab supported by funds from DAAD. Two other Honours students Quek Cai Zhen Sophie and See Xin Yi have followed Sharon Lim’s footsteps and started their Final Year Projects at ICES with my collaborators Drs Ludger Stubbs and Martin Van Meurs. Similarly, Tay Boon Ying from ICES has started her part-time M.Sc. project under co-supervision of Ludger and me.
Finally, I have been promoted to Associate Professor and need to thank particularly all my previous students for their hard work

Team update!

Vinh — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:41:50 +0000

The beginning of 2011 has seen some changes of our group again. Daniel has left the group after finishing his “Diplomarbeit” in November. Dr Han Yuan has also left the group after almost 6 years and accepted a job in the chemical industry. We wish both of them all the best and great success for their future.
In January, Jan C. Bernhammer from Germany joined the team as a new Ph.D. student with a SINGA scholarship. Hopefully, Jan can quickly adapt to the weather, life and working style in Singapore and produce great results for the group.

Recent trips and conferences

Vinh — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 07:31:30 +0000

During the last few months, I have attended a few conferences and visited a few universities to give some talks. These trips offered me the possibility to meet many old friends and also to make new friends. Particularly enjoyable was the attendance of the 24th ICOMC 2010 in Taipei (Tawain), which was followed by a visit to the National Dong-Hwa University, Shoufeng, Hualien. In August/September, I also spent some time at the Hong Kong University hosted by Prof Patrick Toy as part the ACP lectureship program. Finally, I attended my first alumni meeting of the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation in Hanoi, Vietnam early this November.

New Team Members

Vinh — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 18:06:24 +0000

Since August 2010, the Huynh Research Group has luckily grown back to a healthier size, and so Carbene Chemistry “Made in Singapore” will continue to thrive for the next few years. The new team members are Teng Qiaoqiao (Ph.D.), Guo Shuai (Ph.D.), Tang Haoyun (Ph.D.), Haresh S/O Sivaram (Hons), Ng Ping Siang (Hons), Yeo Chee Keong (Hons), Cliffton Ong Xiong Zheng (Hons), Wu Wenqin (UROPS) and Chong Chiew Mei (UROPS). In addition, the two new “senior” members Uma Maheswari and Xiao Linfei just joined the group this October. On the other hand, Hong Lee has submitted his M.Sc. thesis in August and is awaiting his graduation.

Farewell to Andrew :-)

Vinh — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:03:19 +0000

After a short stint of 2 months, Andrew Yeung left for the US early July to pursue his Ph.D. studies at Texas A&M with Donald J. Darensbourg. Now, there’s no one to treat me dinner at the Guild House. Anyway, we wish Andrew and Mel all the best in their new “home” for the next few years in College Station, TX.

Dr. Ramasamy Jothibasu

Vinh — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:47:40 +0000

On 30th of June 2010, the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY has been conferred to Basu as a 2nd member of this group. Dr Ramasamy Jothibasu has published 7 good papers so far and will start his postdoctoral position at KAUST towards the end of 2010, for which I wish him all the best.

Group Retreat on Tioman 2010

Vinh — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 09:20:02 +0000

During the last weekend of June (25-27) in 2010, we had our 2nd group retreat on the beautiful island of Tioman, Malaysia. The objective this time was to update our group manual with new additions and improvements and of course to have fun together. Although our group has shrunken compared to last year (Dr Han Yuan, Yuan Dan, Hong Lee and me), we had additional participants/visitors who joined in for the fun. Thus we enjoyed the company of my long-term study friends Drs Peter Maier and Phu Qui Nguyen, whom I have not seen for ~8 years. Our exchange student Daniel Upmann and his wife also came along. During those three days, we really enjoyed our time relaxing on the beach, snorkeling, feeding fishes and finishing numerous bottles of Tsingtao beer.

Finalist for Reaxys PhD Prize

Vinh — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 07:18:26 +0000

Congratulations to Han Yuan for being a finalist for the Reaxys PhD Prize, which awards original and innovative research in organic, organometallic and inorganic chemistry in a worlwide competition. As a finalist she is invited to participate in a special poster session and reception at the 3rd EuCheMS Chemistry Congress in Germany.

Semester break and new members

Vinh — Mon, 17 May 2010 08:08:53 +0000

The semester has finally ended, and since the last post many things have changed in our group. The five honours students have completed their projects and have left the group. Of course we wish them all the best for their future endeavours. After a short stint, Dr Jana also went back to India to take care of his parents. Basu just had his memorable PhD defense on 12th May and will be soon working as a postdoctoral fellow in the team of Prof. Pastorin at the Department of Pharmacy. Andrew Yeung has returned as a Research Assistant for a short period of two months prior to starting his graduate studies at Texas A&M. Another new member is Daniel Upmann from WWU, Münster (Germany) who will conduct his Diploma research in the group. Currently, we are also recruiting a new batch of Honours students. So those who have a passion for synthetic chemistry are welcomed to apply.
Finally, I am particularly happy to see that our paper “¹³C NMR Spectroscopic Determination of Ligand Donor Strengths Using N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes of Palladium(II)” has made it into the top 20 of the most read papers in Organometallics during the last 12 months.