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Organic Reaction Chemistry Lab
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The lab designs molecules itself to create catalysts that control chemical reactions exactly as intended.
AboutAbout the lab
From molecular design to catalysts that control reactions.
The Ooi Lab designs and synthesizes new molecules and draws out their function as catalysts that drive chemical reactions.
In particular, the lab focuses on onium salts, in which positively and negatively charged parts form a pair, and has created metal-free organocatalysts.
It develops catalysts that finely control ionic and radical reactions, which are fundamental to chemical transformations, with the aim of leading to ideal chemical manufacturing.
As a member of the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), the lab also works on research at the boundary between chemistry and biology.
Key terms
- Onium salt
- A compound in which a positively charged part, centered on an atom such as nitrogen or phosphorus, is paired with a negative ion.
- Organocatalyst
- A catalyst made only of organic molecules, such as those composed of carbon, without metals. It speeds up reactions or selects the form of the products.
- Radical reaction
- A chemical reaction that proceeds through highly reactive molecules with an unpaired electron (radicals).
NewsLab news
Professor Ooi was selected as a recipient of the American Chemical Society's Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award
A paper on generating phosphorus-containing radicals with a photocatalyst and using them in ring-forming reactions was published in Precis. Chem.
A paper on a photocatalytic alkylation that uses carboxylic acids directly was published in Chem. Sci.
A paper on designing dithiocarbamates as radical catalysts was published in J. Am. Chem. Soc.
ResearchResearch themes
Through the molecular design and precise structural control of onium salts, which are organic ion pairs, the lab creates catalysts that drive organic chemical reactions. It aims to accurately understand the relationship between molecular structure and catalytic function, and to develop molecular transformation methods that are useful for synthetic chemistry and can be used sustainably over the long term.
*Illustrative imageAminophosphonium salt catalysts
The lab found that tetraaminophosphonium ions, which can be prepared in a single step from readily available starting materials, act as molecular catalysts that strongly control the three-dimensional shape (stereochemistry) of products. By combining ionic interactions and hydrogen bonding, they precisely control the partner ion.
*Illustrative imageCatalysts that control radical reactions
By designing molecules as intended and finely tuning their structures, the lab creates catalysts that control ionic and radical reactions, the foundations of chemical transformations, at a high level.
MembersFaculty
The Ooi Lab's members consist of faculty, technical and administrative assistants, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakashi Ooi
- Project Associate ProfessorKei Muto
- Assistant ProfessorYoshitaka Aramaki
- Assistant ProfessorTsubasa Nakashima
- Project Assistant ProfessorKodai Minami
VoicesStudent voices
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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: “Prentice Hall Molecular Model Set for General Organic Chemistry 8139” Bin im Garten / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Aminophosphonium salt catalysts: “Molecular ball-and-stick model of Perflubron, overlayed with electron-density coded VdW model” Piswind / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Catalysts that control radical reactions: “Radical-nucleophilic aromatic substitution Mechanism” V8rik / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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- Related lab (生命超分子化学研究グループ): “Dna-163466” PublicDomainPictures / CC0 (cropped)
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