Yuyang was born and raised in Tianjin, China. He developed his passion for chemistry starting in high school and proceeded to represent China to compete in the 45th International Chemistry Olympiad, in which he earned the top score worldwide in 2013. He then moved overseas to pursue his undergraduate study at UC Berkeley, where he started his journey in organometallic chemistry by studying the electronic structure and reactivity of low-coordinated first-row transition metal complexes in the Tilley group. During his graduate study in the Betley group at Harvard University, he developed a series of C–H bond functionalization reactions catalyzed by transition metal-stabilized ligand-based radicals. His thesis work on the electronic structure-based approach to C–H bond functionalization catalyst design was recognized by the 2022 IUPAC-Solvay International Award for Young Chemists. Following his PhD study, Yuyang joined the Buchwald lab as a postdoctoral associate and developed various enantioselective olefin hydrofunctionalization reactions enabled by copper hydride catalysts. Yuyang began his independent career at Colorado State University in the Summer of 2023, focusing on transition-metal catalysis enabled by electronic structure design.

Expanding Upon Traditional Open-Shell Reactivity Through Electronic Structure Design Unlocking new reactivity through novel organometallic intermediates Templating reaction selectivity using through-space interactions Accessing inert bonds by controlling the electronic structure of photoexcited states

CuH-Catalyzed Regio- and Enantioselective Formal Hydroformylation of Vinyl Arenes J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 13733–13740. S. Garhwal; Dong, Y.; Mai. B.-K.; Liu, P.; Buchwald, S. L. Stereoselective Synthesis of Trisubstituted Alkenes via Copper Hydride-Catalyzed Alkyne Hydroalkylation J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 17557–17563. Kutateladze, D. A.; Mai. B.-K.; Dong, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Liu, P.; Buchwald, S. L. Copper Hydride-Catalyzed Enantioselective Olefin Hydromethylation J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 16303–16309. Dong, Y.; Shin, K.; Mai. B.-K.; Liu, P.; Buchwald, S. L. Enantioselective Hydrocarbamoylation of Alkenes Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202206692. Feng, S.; Dong, Y.; Buchwald, S. L. Confronting the Challenging Asymmetric Addition of Vinyl Arene Pronucleophiles into Ketones: Ligand-Controlled Regiodivergent Processes Through a Dearomatized Allyl-Cu Species J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 5985–5995. Dong, Y.; Schuppe, A. W.; Mai. B.-K.; Liu, P.; Buchwald, S. L. Dual-Gradient Universal Chromatography: A New Paradigm for Versatility in Chemistry Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202208854. Losacco, G.; Bennett, R.; Haidar Ahmad I. A.; Barrientos, R. C.; DaSilva, J. O.; Dong, Y.; Schuppe, A. W.; Wang, Z.; Aiken, S.; Mangion, I.; Aggarwal, V. K.; Regalado, E. L. Revealing redox isomerism in trichromium imides by anomalous diffraction Chem. Sci. 2021, 12, 15739–15749.Bartholomew, A. K.; Musgrave, R. A.; Anderton, K. A.; Juda C. E.; Dong, Y.; Bu, W.; Wang, S. G.; Chen, Y.-S.; Betley, T. A Resolving Space-Group-Choice Dilemma in Small-Molecule Crystallography for Chemistry Students Using Case-Based Learning Modules J. Chem. Educ. 2021, 98, 3180–3188. Dong, Y.; Zheng, S.-L. Switchable Product Selectivity in Diazoalkane Coupling Catalyzed by a Two-Coordinate Cobalt Complex ACS Catal. 2021, 11, 11160–11170. Dong, Y.*; Lipschutz, M. I.*; Witzke, R. J.; Panetier, J. A.; Tilley, T. D. O-Heterocycle Synthesis via Intramolecular C–H Alkoxylation Catalyzed by Iron Acetylacetonate J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 7480-7489. Dong, Y.; Wrobel, A. T.; Porter, G. J.; Kim, J. J.; Essman, J. K.; Zheng, S.-L.; Betley, T. A. Enantioselective C–H Amination Catalyzed by Nickel Iminyl Complexes Supported by Anionic Bisoxazoline (BOX) Ligands J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 817-829. Dong, Y.; Lund, C. J.; Porter, G. P.; Clarke, R. M.; Zheng, S.-L.; Cundari, T. R.; Betley, T. A. Efficient C–H Amination Catalysis Using Nickel-Dipyrrin Complexes J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 10096-11005. Dong, Y.; Clarke, R. M.; Porter, G. P.; Betley, T. A. Efficient and Selective Alkene Hydrosilation Promoted by Weak, Double Si–H Activation at an Iron Center Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 7070-7075. Smith, P. W.; Dong, Y.; Tilley, T. D. Synthesis and Electronic Structure Studies of a Cr-Imido Redox Series Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 3163-3166. Dong, Y.; Clarke, R. M.; Zheng, S.-L.; Betley, T. A. Synthesis, Characterization and C–H Amination Reactivity of Nickel Iminyl Complexes Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 1260-1268. Dong, Y.; Lukens, J.; Clarke, R. M.; Zheng, S.-L.; Lancaster, K. M.; Betley, T. A. Regioselective, Transition Metal-Free C–O Coupling Reactions Involving Aryne Intermediates Org. Lett. 2016, 18, 1530-1533 Dong, Y.; Lipschutz, M. I.; Tilley, T. D. Synthesis, Characterization, and Alkyne Trimerization Catalysis of a Heteroleptic Two-Coordinate Fe(I) Complex J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 6366-6372 Lipschutz, M. I.; Chantarojsiri, T.; Dong, Y.; Tilley, T. D.