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Noyori Special Lab (Saito Group)
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The lab pioneers sustainable synthetic chemistry with new catalysts that use hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and light.
AboutAbout the lab
Creating the future with new catalysts
The Noyori Special Lab devises molecular catalysts (catalysts made of molecules) and studies new chemical reactions and methods for synthesizing compounds.
Prof. Noyori, a Special Professor, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001 for his research on asymmetric reduction reactions using catalysts with chiral ligands.
The lab is now creating new catalytic processes and working to pioneer synthetic chemistry that forms the foundation of a sustainable society.
Its goal is to generate ideas and foundational technologies that help solve problems in energy and resources, the environment, and healthcare.
Key terms
- Molecular catalyst
- A catalyst designed as a molecule, for example by combining a metal with organic molecules. Its activity can be tuned by changing its shape
- Reduction reaction
- A reaction that gives hydrogen or electrons to a substance. It is the opposite change to an oxidation reaction
- Artificial photosynthesis
- Technology that, like photosynthesis in plants, uses the energy of sunlight to make substances from water and carbon dioxide
NewsLab news
Joint research on developing a photoreaction and interpreting it with machine learning published in Org. Chem. Front.
Paper on C–C bond formation using a Pt/TiO2 photocatalyst published in Chem. Eur. J.
Paper elucidating the mechanism of CO2 electrolysis with an Ir electrocatalyst published in J. Am. Chem. Soc.
A student won the GSC Poster Award at the 14th JACI/GSC Symposium
A student won an Excellent Poster Award at the 73rd Symposium on Macromolecules
ResearchResearch themes
The lab is working to create new catalytic processes and pioneer synthetic chemistry that forms the foundation of a sustainable society. It pursues three interlinked lines of research: moving beyond petrochemistry, creating catalysts, and harnessing light.
*Illustrative imageMoving Beyond Petrochemistry
Today's chemistry, which makes substances from petroleum and natural gas, relies on processes that involve oxidation reactions. Renewable resources such as biomass and carbon dioxide, on the other hand, are already in an oxidized state, so the lab is developing new chemistry that uses reduction reactions to convert them into useful substances.
*Illustrative imageCreating Catalysts
To use hydrogen, water, and carbon dioxide in the synthesis of substances, the lab designs robust catalysts with high activity and selectivity, aiming for economical and environmentally friendly synthetic methods. It also develops machine learning models that help make chemical development more efficient.
*Illustrative imageHarnessing Light
By combining the chemistry of molecular catalysts with that of semiconductor photocatalysts, the lab has achieved organic synthesis reactions that overturn conventional wisdom. The ultimate goal is energy-producing synthesis that uses sunlight, water, and air, that is, artificial photosynthesis.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Noyori Special Lab consist of faculty, administrative assistants, postdoctoral researchers, students in the doctoral programs, master's programs, and undergraduate program, and project students.As of 2026
- Distinguished ProfessorRyoji Noyori
- ProfessorSusumu Saito
- LecturerJieun Jeong
- Project Assistant ProfessorNaoki Noto
- Project Assistant ProfessorShogo Mori
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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: “BINAP 3D” Edgar181 / Public domain (cropped)
- Moving Beyond Petrochemistry: “Sample of bush-based wood chips in Namibia” Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) - Bush Control and Biomass Utilisation Project / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Creating Catalysts: “(CpMe5)RuCl(EtCage)2-from-xtal-1996-3D-balls” Ben Mills / Public domain (cropped)
- Harnessing Light: “Titanium dioxide powder dispersing in water” Pixelmaniac pictures / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (機能有機化学研究室 (山口研究室)): “Schliffmanschetten” MediaLab TH Köln / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (有機化学研究室 (八木研究室)): “Benzene-3D-molecular-model-engraved-render-CAS-71-43-2” MolGod Scientific / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (有機金属・材料化学グループ (Cruddenグループ)): “Lanthanide nanoparticle solvothermal synthesis apparatus” BekosVonNimmerland / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (生物無機化学研究室 (荘司研究室)): “CSIRO ScienceImage 300 Protein Crystals for Use in Experiments” Health Sciences and Nutrition, CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
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