Education

12/2018 - 03/2019
Research Scientist
Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany.
Institute of Chemistry
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller

07/2015 - 12/2018
Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry (Summa Cum Laude)
Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany.
Institute of Chemistry
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller

09/2012 - 06/2015
Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Organosilicon Chemistry and Material
Hangzhou Normal University, China.
Key Laboratory of Organosilicon Chemistry an dMaterial Technology of China's Ministry of Education
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Zhifang Li and Prof. Dr. Mitsuo Kira

09/2008 - 06/2012
Bachelor of Science. (B.Sc.) in Chemistry
Changchun Normal University, China.
Institute of Chemistry
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Lun Zhao

Achievements

01/2018
2017 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad
Awarded by China scholarship council (CSC), China

06/2015
Georg-Lichtenberg-Promotionsstipendien
PhD-Scholarship supported by the State of Lower Saxony, Germany

05/2015
Ten Outstanding Stundents
Awarded to the top ten students, Hangzhou Normal University, China

10/2013
First-class Scholarship
Scholarschip for outstanding student, Hangzhou Normal University, China

Current resrarch interests
In the past years, my research interests have focused on the synthesis and reactivity of unusual low-coordinated main group compounds, especially on silicon and germanium elements based compounds. Novel tetrylenes, amphoteric tetrylene-based frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs), highly polarized heavier alkenes and their application in small molecule activation (such as H₂ and CO₂) are all in my research scope.

Up to now, I have already 12 papers published on internationally leading journals and I am the first or co-first author for 9 papers (including J. Am. Chem. Soc. 3; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 3; Chem. Asian J. 1 (cover paper)). Besides the achievement in the publication, I was invited to present my PhD work at 10 international conferences (including 3 oral presentations). Very recently, I just received the “2017 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Finance Students Abroad” from the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to reward the academic achievements during my PhD studies.

Publications

14.  A Germacalicene: Synthesis, Structure and Reactivity
Z. Dong, L. Albers, M. Schmidtmann, T. Müller
Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 1098-1105.
(Selected as hot paper)

13. Trialkylsilyl Substituted Silole and Germole Dianions
Z. Dong, C. R. W. Reinhold, M. Schmidtmann, T. Müller
Organometallics 2018, 37, 4736-4743.

12. Evidence for a Single Electron Shift in a Lewis Acid–Base Reaction 
Z. Dong, H. H. Cramer, M. Schmidtmann, L. A. Paul, I. Siewert, T. Müller
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 15419–15424.
(Featured on the supplementary cover)

11. A Neutral h⁵-Aminoborole Complex of Germanium(II)
P. Tholen, Z. Dong, M. Schmidtmann, L. Albers, T. Müller
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 13319–13324.

10. Reactivity of a Bicyclo[2.1.1]hexene Germylene towards Elemental Chalcogens
Z. Dong, M. Schmidtmann, T. Müller
Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2018, 644, 1041-1046.

9. A Dimeric η¹,η⁵-Germole Dianion Bridged Titanium(III) Complex with a Multicenter Ti-Ge-Ge-Ti Bond
Z. Dong, O. Janka, J. Kösters, M. Schmidtmann, T. Müller
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 8634-8638.

8. Hafnocene-based Bicyclo[2.1.1]hexane Germylenes – Formation, Reactivity and Structural Flexibility
Z. Dong, K. Bedbur, M. Schmidtmann, T. Müller
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 3052-3060.

7. A One-Step Germole to Silole Transformation and a Stable Isomer of a Disilabenzene
C. R. W. Reinhold, Z. Dong, J. M. Winkler, H. Steinert, M. Schmidtmann, T. Müller
Chem. Eur. J. 2018, 24, 848-854.
(Selected as hot paper and featured on the the inside cover)

6. A Stable Silylene with a σ2, π- Butadiene Ligand
Z. Dong, C. R. W. Reinhold, T. Müller
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 7117−7123.

5. Dihydrogen Splitting Using Dialkylsilylene-Based Frustrated Lewis Pairs
Z. Dong, Z. Li,* X. Liu, C. Yan, N. Wei, M. Kira,* T. Müller
Chem. Asian J. 2017, 12, 1204-1207.
(Special issue on advances in silicon chemistry and featured on the back cover)

4. A Germylene Stabilized by Homoconjugation
Z. Dong, C. R. W. Reinhold, T. Müller
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 15899-15904.

3. 1,3-Diazasilabicyclo[1.1.0]butane with a Long Bridging N-N Bond
X.-Q. Xiao, +  Z. Dong, +  Z. Li, C. Yan, G. Lai, M. Kira
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 3758-3762.
([+] These authors contributed equally to this work.)

2. Elusive 2H-1,2-oxasiletes through reactions of an isolable dialkylsilylene with diazocarbonyl compound
Z. Dong, X.-Q. Xiao, Z. Li, Q. Lu, G. Lai, M. Kira
Org. Biomol. Chem. 2015, 13, 9471-9476.

1. Reactions of an Isolable Dialkylsilylene with Carbon Dioxide and Related Heterocumulenes
X. Liu, X.-Q. Xiao, Z. Xu, X. Yang, Z. Li, Z. Dong, C. Yan, G. Lai, M. Kira
Organometallics 2014, 33, 5434-5439.

Conference Contributions

Talk:
09/2018
Low-Valent Silicon Compounds Based on 2,5-Disilylsilole Dianions
Zhaowen Dong
The 9^th EUROPEAN SILICON DAYS (ESD), Saarbrücken, Germany, September 9^th-12^th, 2018

10/2017
Tetrylenes Stabilized by Homoconjugation
Zhaowen Dong
The 29^th GCCCD^® Annual Conference-17^th Parallel Forum of 2017 CIESC Annual Meeting, Hamburg, Germany, October 13^th-15^th, 2017

09/2017
Tetrylenes Stabilized by Homoconjugation
Zhaowen Dong
20. Norddeutsches Doktorandenkolloqium der Anorganischen Chemie (NDDK), Kiel, Germany, September 21^th – 22^th, 2017

09/2016
The Synthesis and Unusual Reactivity of Germole Dianion
Zhaowen Dong, Thomas Müller
The 1st Summer School of The "Nano Energy" Research Group, Elstal, Germany, September 12^th – 14^th, 2016

Poster:
09/2017
Tetrylenes Stabilized by Homoconjugation
Zhaowen Dong, Crispin R. W. Reinhold, Thomas Müller
GDCh-Wissenschaftsforum Chemie 2017, Berlin, Germany, September 10^th-14^th, 2017

08/2017
Tetrylenes Stabilized by Homoconjugation
Zhaowen Dong, Crispin R. W. Reinhold, Thomas Müller
Anglo-German Inorganic Chemistry Meeting 2017 (AGICHEM), Göttingen, Germany, August 06^th-09^th, 2017

06/2017
Tetrylenes Stabilized by Homoconjugation
Zhaowen Dong, Crispin R. W. Reinhold, Thomas Müller
The 12^th International Conference on of Heteroatom Chemistry (ICHAC 2017),  Vancouver, Canada, June 11^th-17^th, 2017

10/2016
Synthesis, Structure and Reactivity of A Bishomoaromatic Germylene
Zhaowen Dong, Crispin R. W. Reinhold, Thomas Müller
The 28^th GCCCD^® Annual Conference “Chemistry and Chemical Engineering for Sustainable Development” Munich, Germany, October 28^th-30^th, 2016

09/2016
Synthesis, Structure and Reactivity of A Bishomoaromatic Germylene
Zhaowen Dong, Crispin R. W. Reinhold, Thomas Müller
19. Norddeutsches Doktorandenkolloqium der Anorganischen Chemie (NDDK), Hamburg, Germany, September 15^th – 16^th, 2016

09/2016
Synthesis, Structure and Reactivity of A Bishomoaromatic Germylene
Zhaowen Dong, Crispin R. W. Reinhold, Thomas Müller
The 1st Summer School of The "Nano Energy" Research Group, Elstal, Germany, September 12^th – 14^th, 2016

08/2016
Synthesis, Structure and Reactivity of A Cyclopropenium Germacyclopentadienide Zwitterion
Zhaowen Dong, Thomas Müller
The International Conference on the Coordination and Organometallic Chemistry of Germanium, Tin and Lead (ICCOC-GTL 2016), Pardubice, Czech Republic, August 28^th – September 2^th, 2016