Professor Jianliang Xiao

Winner: 2020 Tilden Prize

University of Liverpool

For outstanding contributions to catalysis, both in fundamental studies and commercial application.

Celebrate Professor Jianliang Xiao

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When studying industrial heterogeneous catalysis in the 1980s, I realised I would need chemistry to better understand the subject.

Professor Jianliang Xiao’s research is mainly concerned with developing molecular metal catalysts and understanding the mechanism of their action, in the hope to contribute to greener, more economic organic synthesis. In particular, his research group has worked on hydrogenation, selective oxidation and coupling reactions. Thanks to the effort of his students and colleagues, the research has contributed to some aspects of these reactions and led to real-life applications, for example, commercialised catalysts and a spinout company, LCC.

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Professor Jianliang Xiao received a B.Eng. in chemical engineering at Northwest University in Xian in 1982. This was followed by an M.Eng. in catalysis engineering with Profs Wu Chi and Wang Junyu at the RIPP in Beijing and a Ph.D in organometallic chemistry at the University of Alberta under Professor Marty Cowie. After a postdoctoral period with Professor Richard Puddephatt at Western Ontario, he joined the ERATO Noyori Catalysis Project directed by Professor Ryoji Noyori, where he was first exposed to the art and science of catalysis. In 1996 he took up a Principal Scientist position at the University of Liverpool, becoming a Lecturer in 1999 and Professor of catalysis in 2005 in the Department of Chemistry. His research is concerned with the design, development and understanding of molecular catalysts for sustainable chemical synthesis. Thanks to his students and colleagues, he has published ca. 240 papers in these areas and was awarded the UK Prize for Process Chemistry Research 2008 and the Excelling at Innovation Award of the University of Liverpool 2015.