Sukbok Chang

Sukbok Chang (; born August 1, 1962) is a South Korean organic chemist. He is a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemistry at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He is also the director of the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) Center for Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalizations (CCHF). He is the fourth president of IBS and the first to serve in the role after first being a principal investigator at that institute.

He was an associate editor on ACS Catalysis and has served on the editorial advisory boards of The Journal of Organic Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Accounts of Chemical Research.

In mid 2026, he was appointed president of the Institute for Basic Science where he will serve a five-year term.

Major contributions Chang's group studies new organic reactions and mechanisms with transition metal catalysis. In particular, his group contributed to the development of "copper catalyzed multicomponent coupling" in the 2000s. Since 2008, his group has focused on C-H functionalization and made a number of contributions.

Copper-catalyzed multicomponent coupling

Cu-catalyzed multicomponent coupling is a notable process developed by Chang's group. In 2005, they published a highly efficient and mild catalytic three component coupling between an alkyne, sulfonyl azide, and amine. Unlike click chemistry which generates 1,4-triazoles as products, in this case a Cu(I) catalyst, sulfonyl azide and alkyne generate ketenimine intermediate after releasing N2 gas. This electrophilic ketenimine intermediate reacts with amines and to generate asymmetric imines as products. Chang's group also showed water, alcohols, the C3 position of pyrrole and other nucleophiles can be used in this reaction.

Rhodium, Iridium-catalyzed C-N bond formation

Rhodium or iridium catalyzed C-H amidation and amination are other achievements of his group. In 2012, his group published rhodium catalyzed intermolecular amidation of arenes using sulfonyl azide as a nitrene precursor. This reaction generates N2 as the single byproduct, doesn't need external oxidant, has broad substrate scope and high functional group tolerance. Chang's group advanced their work by using different directing groups, different azides and various substrates. They also published that iridium also works well for C-H amidation/amination.

In 2016, Chang's group discovered new nitrogen sources. Their new nitrene precursor, 1,4,2-dioxazol-5-one, is more convenient to prepare, store and use compared to azides. Moreover, it has a strong affinity to the rhodium or Iridium metal center, and thus gives excellent amidation efficiency. They later published selective formation of gamma-lactams via C-H amidation with this type of nucleophile.

Honors and awards

2023: Asian Scientist 100, Asian Scientist 2022: Ho-Am Prize in Science 2019: Top Scientist and Technologist Award of Korea, Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies 2018: Korea Toray Science Award, Korea Toray Science Foundation 2018: JSPS Invitational Fellowship, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 2018: Grand Academic Research Award, KAIST 2017: 1st ACS-KCS Excellence Award, American Chemical Society and Korean Chemical Society 2017: Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 2016: Yoshida Prize, International Organic Chemistry Foundation 2015-2020: Highly Cited Researcher in chemistry, Clarivate Analytics 2015: Knowledge Creation Award, Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning 2014: Member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology 2013: Korea Science Award 2013: Kyung-Ahm Prize, Kyung-Ahm Education & Cultural Foundation 2010: KCS Academic Award, Korean Chemical Society 2008: Star Faculty, Korea Research Foundation 2006: One of 50 Representative Research Performances, Korea Science & Engineering Foundation 2005: Shim Sang Cheol Award, Korean Chemical Society 2003: Thieme Journals Award, Synlett/Synthesis Professorship Award in Asian Area 2002: Young Chemist Award, Korean Chemical Society sponsored by WILEY