Professor Wei-Yuan Huang is one of the founders and pioneers of organofluorine chemistry in China. He celebrated his 90th birthday in December and the Chinese Journal of Chemistry has dedicated a special issue on organofluorine chemistry to him to honor the occasion.
Wei-Yuan Huang obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry in 1943 from Fukien Christian University, China, and held a teaching position there afterward. He received his M.S. degree in 1949 from Lingnan University, China, and his Ph.D. from Harvard University, USA, in 1952 under the supervision of Professor L. F. Fieser. Huang joined Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 1955 as an associate professor and was promoted to a full professor in 1960. Here, he established the Department of Organofluorine Chemistry.
In 1980, he was elected as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences — the highest academic title conferred on Chinese scientists.
Professor Huang discovered the Sulfinatodehalogenation Reaction in 1981, which converts perfluoroalkyl halides to the corresponding perfluoroalkanesulfinates with sulfinatodehalogenation reagents such as sodium dithionite. He also developed new and practical methods for perfluoroalkylation of unsaturated substrates such as alkenes, alkynes and aromatic compounds with sulfinatodehalogenation reagents.
He has published more than 200 research papers and has mentored twenty Ph.D. candidates, including the first Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in Mainland China.
