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Motomu Kanai

Motomu Kanai

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Chemistry
Japan
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Chemistry

D-Index
103
Citations
30655
World Ranking
1132
National Ranking
52

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Chemistry in Japan Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Chemistry in Japan Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Chemistry in Japan Leader Award

Overview

Motomu Kanai is a researcher affiliated with the University of Tokyo in Japan. Their work primarily spans the fields of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, with significant contributions to Organic Chemistry and Molecular Biology as key subfields.

Kanai's research focuses on a variety of topics including Catalytic C-H Functionalization Methods, Chemical Synthesis and Analysis, Radical Photochemical Reactions, Click Chemistry and Applications, Asymmetric Hydrogenation and Catalysis, Alzheimer's disease research and treatments, and Asymmetric Synthesis and Catalysis.

Frequent coauthors collaborating with Kanai include Harunobu Mitsunuma, Kenzo Yamatsugu, Shigehiro A. Kawashima, Youhei Sohma, and Taisuke Tomita. This network reflects a broad collaborative approach within their research community.

Their scholarly output is frequently published in venues such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Organic Letters, Synlett, ECS Meeting Abstracts, and Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Representative recent papers authored or co-authored by Kanai include:

  • Catalytic Acceptorless Dehydrogenation of Aliphatic Alcohols (2020, Journal of the American Chemical Society)
  • Catalytic Allylation of Aldehydes Using Unactivated Alkenes (2020, Journal of the American Chemical Society)
  • Catalytic Approaches to Chemo- and Site-Selective Transformation of Carbohydrates (2023, Chemical Reviews)
  • Catalytic photooxygenation degrades brain Aβ in vivo (2021, Science Advances)
  • Titanium(IV) Chloride-Catalyzed Photoalkylation via C(sp3)-H Bond Activation of Alkanes (2022, Organic Letters)

Best Publications

  • Asymmetric Synthesis of Tertiary Alcohols and α-Tertiary Amines via Cu-Catalyzed C−C Bond Formation to Ketones and Ketimines

    Masakatsu Shibasaki;Motomu Kanai

  • A Cationic High-Valent Cp*CoIIIComplex for the Catalytic Generation of Nucleophilic Organometallic Species: Directed CH Bond Activation

    Tatsuhiko Yoshino;Hideya Ikemoto;Shigeki Matsunaga;Motomu Kanai

  • A meta -selective C–H borylation directed by a secondary interaction between ligand and substrate

    Yoichiro Kuninobu;Haruka Ida;Mitsumi Nishi;Motomu Kanai

  • Recent progress in asymmetric bifunctional catalysis using multimetallic systems.

    Masakatsu Shibasaki;Motomu Kanai;Shigeki Matsunaga;Naoya Kumagai

  • Control of Multivalent Interactions by Binding Epitope Density

    Christopher W Cairo;Jason E Gestwicki;Motomu Kanai;Laura L Kiessling

  • Pyrroloindolone synthesis via a Cp*Co(III)-catalyzed redox-neutral directed C-H alkenylation/annulation sequence.

    Hideya Ikemoto;Tatsuhiko Yoshino;Ken Sakata;Shigeki Matsunaga

  • Power of cooperativity : Lewis acid-lewis base bifunctional asymmetric catalysis

    Motomu Kanai;Nobuki Kato;Eiko Ichikawa;Masakatsu Shibasaki

  • Air‐Stable Carbonyl(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)cobalt Diiodide Complex as a Precursor for Cationic (Pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)cobalt(III) Catalysis: Application for Directed C‐2 Selective CH Amidation of Indoles

    Bo Sun;Tatsuhiko Yoshino;Shigeki Matsunaga;Motomu Kanai

  • Varying the Size of Multivalent Ligands: The Dependence of Concanavalin A Binding on Neoglycopolymer Length

    Motomu Kanai;Kathleen H. Mortell;Laura L. Kiessling

  • Cp*Co(III) Catalyzed Site-Selective C-H Activation of Unsymmetrical O-Acyl Oximes: Synthesis of Multisubstituted Isoquinolines from Terminal and Internal Alkynes.

    Bo Sun;Tatsuhiko Yoshino;Motomu Kanai;Shigeki Matsunaga

  • Probing Low Affinity and Multivalent Interactions with Surface Plasmon Resonance: Ligands for Concanavalin A

    David A. Mann;Motomu Kanai;and Dustin J. Maly;Laura L. Kiessling

  • Dehydrative Direct CH Allylation with Allylic Alcohols under [Cp*CoIII] Catalysis

    Yudai Suzuki;Bo Sun;Ken Sakata;Tatsuhiko Yoshino;Tatsuhiko Yoshino

  • De novo synthesis of Tamiflu via a catalytic asymmetric ring-opening of meso-aziridines with TMSN3.

    Yuhei Fukuta;Tsuyoshi Mita;Nobuhisa Fukuda;Motomu Kanai

  • Recent progress in copper-catalyzed difunctionalization of unactivated carboncarbon multiple bonds

    Yohei Shimizu;Motomu Kanai

  • Enantioselective synthesis of SM-130686 based on the development of asymmetric Cu(I)F catalysis to access 2-oxindoles containing a tetrasubstituted carbon.

    Daisuke Tomita;Kenzo Yamatsugu;Motomu Kanai;Masakatsu Shibasaki

  • Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Chiral Tertiary Organoboronic Esters through Conjugate Boration of β-Substituted Cyclic Enones

    I-Hon Chen;Liang Yin;Wataru Itano;Motomu Kanai

  • Recent progress in asymmetric two-center catalysis

    Masakatsu Shibasaki;Motomu Kanai;Ken Funabashi

  • Copper-Catalyzed Intramolecular C(sp3) ? H and C(sp2) ? H Amidation by Oxidative Cyclization

    Zhen Wang;Jizhi Ni;Yoichiro Kuninobu;Motomu Kanai

  • Catalytic Enantioselective Allylboration of Ketones

    Reiko Wada;Kounosuke Oisaki;Motomu Kanai;Masakatsu Shibasaki

  • Sequential regulation of DOCK2 dynamics by two phospholipids during neutrophil chemotaxis.

    Akihiko Nishikimi;Hideo Fukuhara;Wenjuan Su;Tsunaki Hongu

  • Switching Enantiofacial Selectivities Using One Chiral Source: Catalytic Enantioselective Synthesis of the Key Intermediate for (20S)-Camptothecin Family by (S)-Selective Cyanosilylation of Ketones

    Kazuo Yabu;Shuji Masumoto;Shingo Yamasaki;Yoshitaka Hamashima

Frequent Co-Authors

Masakatsu Shibasaki
Masakatsu Shibasaki University of Tokyo
Shigeki Matsunaga
Shigeki Matsunaga Kyoto University
Yoichiro Kuninobu
Yoichiro Kuninobu Kyushu University
Kiyoshi Tomioka
Kiyoshi Tomioka Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts
Yoshitaka Hamashima
Yoshitaka Hamashima University of Shizuoka
Tatsuhiko Kodama
Tatsuhiko Kodama University of Tokyo
Tsuyoshi Inoue
Tsuyoshi Inoue Osaka University
Taisuke Tomita
Taisuke Tomita University of Tokyo
Naoya Kumagai
Naoya Kumagai University of Tokyo
Junken Aoki
Junken Aoki Tohoku University

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