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Fukushima-Shoji Lab
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The lab designs molecules, arranges them in order, and draws out new functions from them.
AboutAbout the lab
Arranging molecules to create new functions.
The Fukushima-Shoji Lab is pioneering an interdisciplinary field that bridges organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, coordination chemistry, and inorganic chemistry.
The lab studies how to make molecules with a variety of properties and arrange them exactly as intended.
The main players are π-electron molecules that absorb light, emit light, conduct electricity, or act as magnets.
When molecules line up in order, small changes in each one are thought to spread to the whole assembly, giving rise to large-scale functions.
Key terms
- Soft matter
- Soft substances, easily changed in shape, made of organic molecules, polymers, or coordination complexes
- Self-assembly
- The process in which molecules gather spontaneously and form an ordered shape or arrangement
- π-electron molecules
- Molecules in which double bonds or aromatic rings are connected. They tend to show properties related to light and electricity
NewsLab news
Results of joint research with RIKEN published in Chem. Eur. J.
A doctoral student received the Student Presentation Award at the 106th Spring Annual Meeting of the Chemical Society of Japan
Results of joint research with Kitasato University published in Nanoscale Horiz.
Research results from a graduate and Assistant Professors, among others, published in JACS Au
Results of collaborative research within the university published in ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab creates groups of molecules with diverse physical properties and develops methodologies for precisely controlling molecular self-assembly. It aims to open up innovative functions in soft matter made of organic, polymer, main-group element, and coordination complex molecules.
*Illustrative imageOrganic Thin Films with No Domain Boundaries
Triptycene is a molecule shaped like a three-bladed propeller. The lab attaches substituents to selected faces to make "tripod-type triptycenes." It found that these molecules nest together like meshing gears and form highly ordered thin films with no domain boundaries. The films can be made not only on metal and glass but also on polymer substrates.
*Illustrative imageDisk-Shaped and Bowl-Shaped Molecules
The lab found that a derivative of triphenylene, a disk-shaped liquid crystal molecule, with a carboxylic acid group attached directly to it aligns vertically over large areas on various substrates. It has also been shown that bowl-shaped sumanene derivatives form highly ordered liquid crystal phases over a wide temperature range.
*Illustrative imageBorinium Ions as Super Lewis Acids
The lab achieved the world's first synthesis of the borinium ion, a two-coordinate cation in which boron carries only two aromatic rings. It shows extremely high Lewis acidity and can cleave the C=O double bond of carbon dioxide, which normally resists reaction, at room temperature.
*Illustrative imageReactions That Assemble Molecules Just by Mixing
The lab discovered a reaction in which boron mediates successive bonds between carbon atoms and converts alkyne derivatives into aromatic rings. From readily available starting materials, it can synthesize in a single reaction vessel molecules with three-dimensional frameworks or with curved and extended π-electron systems.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Fukushima-Shoji Lab consist of faculty members, students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs, and administrative and technical support staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakanori FukushimaPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorYoshiaki ShojiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorTomoya FukuiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorRyosuke Takehara
VoicesStudent voices
Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.
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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: “Emerging geometry in life building blocks” FedeCaimi / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Organic Thin Films with No Domain Boundaries: “Triptycene-3D-balls” Jynto / CC0 (cropped)
- Disk-Shaped and Bowl-Shaped Molecules: “Liquid Crystal Colloids” Alberto Concellón / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Borinium Ions as Super Lewis Acids: “Borax crystals” Aram Dulyan / Public domain (cropped)
- Reactions That Assemble Molecules Just by Mixing: “Corannulene3D” Edgar181 / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (中薗研究室): “B-cyclodextrin” Materialscientist / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (田中健研究室): “Analytics” ElNokko / CC BY-SA 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)
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