Elsevier officially released its "Highly Cited Chinese Researchers in 2024" in Shanghai on March 25th, featuring a record-breaking 6,388 scholars across 83 first-level disciplines within 10 major academic fields defined by the Ministry of Education. The list, based on citation data from the Scopus database, comprehensively evaluates scholars' academic contributions and influence, aiming to promote the global visibility of Chinese research and advance disciplinary development.

Chemistry emerged as the field with the highest number of honorees (501 scholars), followed closely by Biology, Materials Science and Engineering, and other disciplines. Among institutions, the Chinese Academy of Sciences led with 533 scholars, followed by Tsinghua University (279), Zhejiang University (256), and Peking University (219). Fudan University secured the fifth national position with 159 scholars, showcasing its robust research strength.

Professor Zhang Junliang from the Department of Chemistry at Fudan University was prominently featured on the list. While his early research focused on enyne and small-ring chemistry, Professor Zhang has dedicated recent years to pioneering work in developing chiral ligands, catalysts, and chiral catalytic technologies. His groundbreaking "IDEAL" (Intelligent Design for Efficient Adaptive Ligands) principle for chiral ligand design directly led to the development of the Sadphos family of adaptive chiral bisphosphine ligands.

The Sadphos ligands exhibit exceptional versatility, demonstrating compatibility with eight distinct transition metal catalytic systems and organocatalysis. This adaptability significantly enhances reaction efficiency and selectivity. Due to their significant practical value, Sadphos ligands have been successfully commercialized by leading global and domestic reagent suppliers including Strem Chemicals, Daicel Corporation, TCI (Tokyo Chemical Industry), Bide Pharmatech, Aladdin Scientific, Haohong Pharmaceutical, etc.

Key advantages of the Sadphos platform include ease of synthesis, structural diversity, and adaptive coordination modes. The integration of artificial intelligence-guided learning and high-throughput screening technologies is poised to dramatically accelerate the application of Sadphos ligands in the synthesis of chiral pharmaceuticals and advanced materials.