Liu wins extraordinary potential prize

Wei Liu, a post-doctoral researcher in the laboratory of Professor John T. Groves, was awarded the 2013 Extraordinary Potential Prize for Outstanding Chinese Students Studying Abroad.

The award, which has been given by the China Scholarship Council since 2003, was presented to Liu by Ambassador Guoxiang Sun at the Chinese consulate in New York City on Friday, May 9, 2014. This year 518 awards were given to Chinese graduate students studying abroad worldwide, including six “Extraordinary Potential” prizes. The prize is $10,000.

Liu obtained his PhD in February from the Groves lab where he developed a manganese porphyrin catalyzed aliphatic C-H chlorination reaction. Inspired by that work, he went on to develop the first oxidative aliphatic C-H fluorination reaction using an easily handled fluoride source.

The winners were chosen by a rigorous evaluation of their academic and research accomplishments. Congratulations to Wei Liu for this outstanding achievement.