Department of Chemistry
Hyun-Joon Ha received his BS degree in chemistry in 1982 from Seoul National University with honor, and his Ph.D. in 1987 from Brown University under the direction of Professor David E. Cane. After a one-year postdoctoral fellowship with Professor Michael C. Pirrung at Stanford University, he returned to Korea in 1988 and accepted the position of senior research scientist at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).
Dr. Ha was involved in the chemical approach for the development of new biologically active agrochemicals. In 1991, he joined the faculty of the chemistry department at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and since 1997 he has been a full professor of this department. During his tenure, he took university positions as a dean of general affairs (2004 – 2006) and dean of natural science (2013 – 2014).
In 1993, Dr. Ha carried out some research at the chemistry department of Cambridge University, U.K., as a short-term visiting scholar of Emmanuel College. Academically, he served as an organizer of numerous international symposia including ICOS-17, 11-ACC, IUPAC 46th General Assembly, and 43rd IUPAC Congress, etc. He was elected as the 51st president of the Korean Chemical Society for a two-year term 2018 - 19.
Dr. Ha’s research interests include the exploitation of new methods in organic synthesis, aziridines and heterocycles, imines and iminium ions, asymmetric synthesis of biologically active molecules, and lipase-mediated reactions. Especially, he has been involved in aziridine chemistry with the industrial production of chiral aziridine-2-carboxylates from which many nitrogen-containing cyclic and acyclic molecules are prepared in optically pure forms. He has recently become interested in medicinal chemistry for drug discovery, process development for pharmaceuticals, and the design and synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals. He is a member of the Korean and American Chemical Societies and a fellow of IUPAC. Currently, he serves as an associate editor of Asian J. Org. Chem. From Wiley VCH. He holds several patents and has published over 170 peer-reviewed papers in leading journals and two books including the recently edited “Synthesis of 4- to 7-Membered Heterocycles by Ring Expansion” with prof. M. D’hooghe.
Synthesis of constrained ceramide analogs and their potent antileukemic activities.
Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters Apr, 2006 | Pubmed ID: 16455244
The preparation of stable aziridinium ions and their ring-openings.
Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) Sep, 2008 | Pubmed ID: 18802571
Molecular basis for the stereoselective ammoniolysis of N-alkyl aziridine-2-carboxylates catalyzed by Candida antarctica lipase B.
Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology Sep, 2009 | Pubmed ID: 19672908
Bacillus anthracis capsule activates caspase-1 and induces interleukin-1beta release from differentiated THP-1 and human monocyte-derived dendritic cells.
Infection and immunity Jan, 2010 | Pubmed ID: 19737897
Evaluation of inhibitory effects of thiobarbituric acid derivatives targeting HCV NS5B polymerase.
Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Mar, 2010 | Pubmed ID: 20372020
Asymmetric synthesis of 1-deoxyazasugars from chiral aziridines.
Organic & biomolecular chemistry Mar, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 21206946
3,4-Disubstituted oxazolidin-2-ones as constrained ceramide analogs with anticancer activities.
Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry Nov, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 21978949
Alkylative ring opening of N-methylaziridinium ions and a formal synthesis of tyroscherin.
Organic letters Jan, 2012 | Pubmed ID: 22196165
CAL-B catalyzed desymmetrization of 3-alkylglutarate: "olefin effect" and asymmetric synthesis of pregabalin.
Organic & biomolecular chemistry Jun, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23525234
Nucleophile-dependent regio- and stereoselective ring opening of 1-azoniabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane tosylate.
Chemistry, an Asian journal Apr, 2014 | Pubmed ID: 24488926
Simple preparation of new [(18) F]F-labeled synthetic amino acid derivatives with two click reactions in one-pot and SPE purification.
Journal of labelled compounds & radiopharmaceuticals Jun, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 26031401
Stereoselective Pd-catalyzed etherification and asymmetric synthesis of furanomycin and its analogues from a chiral aziridine.
Organic & biomolecular chemistry Aug, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 26054629
One-pot multiple reactions: asymmetric synthesis of 2,6-cis-disubstituted piperidine alkaloids from chiral aziridine.
Organic & biomolecular chemistry Jul, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 27189444
Selective Ring-Opening of N-Alkyl Pyrrolidines with Chloroformates to 4-Chlorobutyl Carbamates.
The Journal of organic chemistry 07, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 28593764
Mixed Monosilyl Acetals and Catalyst-Dependent Chemoselective Mukaiyama Aldol Reactions.
Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Nov, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 28940890
Preparation of Chiral Contiguous Epoxyaziridines and Their Regioselective Ring-Opening for Drug Syntheses.
Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Feb, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 29314353
Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction of a chiral aziridine aldehyde.
Organic & biomolecular chemistry 11, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 30183792
Total Synthesis and Absolute Stereochemical Assignment of Microgrewiapine A and Its Stereoisomers.
The Journal of organic chemistry 01, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 30406652
Metal-free aza-Claisen type ring expansion of vinyl aziridines: an expeditious synthesis of seven membered N-heterocycles.
Organic & biomolecular chemistry 03, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 30644494
Alkylative Ring-Opening of Bicyclic Aziridinium Ion and Its Application for Alkaloid Synthesis.
Frontiers in chemistry , 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31316970
Atom-Economical and Metal-Free Synthesis of Multisubstituted Furans from Intramolecular Aziridine Ring Opening.
ACS omega Nov, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 31457314
Total Synthesis and Stereochemical Revision of Biemamides B and D.
Organic letters 11, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31638824
Editorial: Strained Aza-Heterocycles in Synthesis.
Frontiers in chemistry , 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31649921
Stereoselective synthesis of 2,6-disubstituted piperidine alkaloids.
Organic & biomolecular chemistry 08, 2020 | Pubmed ID: 32478370
Lewis acid-mediated synthesis of mono- and tris-indole adducts from chiral aziridines.
Organic & biomolecular chemistry 12, 2020 | Pubmed ID: 33179699
Preface to "Aziridine Chemistry".
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Mar, 2021 | Pubmed ID: 33799495
Alkylative Aziridine Ring-Opening Reactions.
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Mar, 2021 | Pubmed ID: 33803771
Synthetic Applications of Aziridinium Ions.
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Mar, 2021 | Pubmed ID: 33809951