Rate My Professor Zhi Li

Zhi Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the National University of Singapore's College of Design and Engineering. He earned his PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Vienna in 1991, Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from the Chinese Academy of Forestry in Nanjing in 1985, and BSc in Chemistry from Nanjing University in 1982. His research specializes in advanced biocatalysis for green and sustainable manufacturing of chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Key areas include the discovery and engineering of novel biocatalysts, development of efficient biocatalytic systems, utilization of renewable feedstocks and waste to produce bio-based fuels and chemicals, and synthesis of functional and smart materials for biotechnological and biomedical applications. Li has received the IChemE Singapore Award for Sustainable Technology as part of a team in 2013. He has delivered seminars such as Engineering Biocatalysts for Green and Sustainable Pharmaceutical Manufacturing.

Li's prolific publication record includes notable works such as 'Engineering of P450pyr Hydroxylase for the Highly Regio- and Enantioselective Hydroxylation of Fatty Acids' (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2014), 'High-Performance Production of Biodiesel from Waste Grease Using a Novel Chemoenzymatic Process' (ACS Catalysis, 2015), 'Recent Advances in Enzymatic Oxidation of Alcohols' (Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 2018), 'Cascade Biotransformations for Enantioconvergent Conversion of Racemic Allenes to Chiral Allenes and Allenols' (ACS Catalysis, 2022), and 'Structural Basis of the Meinwald Rearrangement Catalysed by Styrene Oxide Isomerase' (Nature Chemistry, 2024). His contributions have significantly influenced biocatalytic processes for sustainable chemical synthesis, emphasizing enantioselective transformations and cascade reactions from simple substrates to high-value chiral products. Through his lab at NUS, Li advances practical applications in green chemistry within the Engineering faculty.