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Takao Lab
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The lab creates new reactions with clusters in which several metal atoms are assembled together.
AboutAbout the lab
Turning stable molecules into resources.
The Takao Lab studies organometallic chemistry, working with compounds in which a metal and carbon are directly bonded.
The lab synthesizes "clusters," in which several metal atoms are assembled together, and investigates how their reactions work.
In particular, polyhydride clusters bearing hydride ligands have been found to resist breakdown of their metal framework while maintaining high reactivity.
A major challenge in this field is converting stable, hard-to-use substances such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and alkanes into useful substances.
Key terms
- Organometallic compound
- A compound in which a metal and carbon are directly bonded. Used as catalysts in many synthetic reactions.
- Cluster
- An assembly of several metal atoms. Serves as a model of the active sites of solid catalysts.
- Hydride ligand
- Hydrogen bonded to a metal. It can leave as a hydrogen molecule or a proton, opening up a site for reaction.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the reaction chemistry of organometallic compounds, in which a metal and carbon are directly bonded, and in particular of clusters in which metal atoms are assembled together. Using polyhydride clusters, which differ from the carbonyl clusters that have been widely used so far, the lab is taking on the development of new reactions.
*Illustrative imageChallenges in organometallic chemistry
Using organometallic compounds as catalysts has made it easy to obtain a wide variety of compounds. At the same time, converting substances that are stable and have hardly been usable as resources, such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and alkanes, into useful substances remains a major challenge.
*Illustrative imageMimicking active sites with clusters
Reactions on solid catalysts are thought to occur at a very small number of active sites on the metal surface called "defects," but the means of directly learning what happens there are limited. The lab synthesizes trinuclear and tetranuclear clusters as models that isolate the active site, and examines them using X-ray diffraction and nuclear magnetic resonance.
*Illustrative imagePolyhydride clusters
Unlike carbonyl ligands, hydride ligands do not lower the electron density at the metal centers, so high reactivity is preserved. They also bind the metals strongly together and suppress breakdown of the framework, so reactions proceed selectively, and the lab has succeeded in synthesizing clusters centered on ruthenium that incorporate different metals.
MembersFaculty
The Takao Lab consists of faculty members and master's and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorToshiro Takao
- Assistant ProfessorMasataka OishiPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Ruthenium crystals” Periodictableru / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Challenges in organometallic chemistry: “Ferrocene Crystals” Andrea Sella / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Mimicking active sites with clusters: “Atomic resolution Au100” Erwinrossen / Public domain (cropped)
- Polyhydride clusters: “Solutions of organic substances for NMR analysis” Ryabitskii / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (村橋・
山本研究室): “Palladium (Element - 46) 1” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped) - Related lab (中島裕美子研究室): “Dichloro(1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane)nickel complex ball” Jynto (more from this user) / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (福島・庄子研究室): “Emerging geometry in life building blocks” FedeCaimi / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (田中健研究室): “Analytics” ElNokko / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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