Xin Wu, Ph.D.

Professor

Experience

Dr. Xin Wu received his PhD from University of Southampton in 2016. He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Prof. Philip Gale in University of Southampton and the University of Sydney from 2016 to 2021. Xin was an ARC DECRA Research Fellow in the University of Queensland in 2022. He moved to Xiamen University in early 2023 to commence his current position as Professor in Medicinal Chemistry.

Research

Dr. Xin Wu’s research interests span across the fields of supramolecular chemistry, materials science, membrane biophysics and medicinal chemistry. His research group is currently developing synthetic methods to access water-soluble neutral organic cages that function as hosts to bind biologically important molecules and ions in water. Xin’s group also makes artificial transmembrane ion transporters (ionophores) that have potential antimicrobial and anticancer applications, while developing spectroscopic methods to study how ionophores interact with ions at the water/lipid bilayer interfaces. Other research topics include macrocycle syntheses/self-assembly and polymeric adsorbent materials that remove toxic anions from water.

Selected  Publications (last 5 years):

  [1] X. Wu*, J. K. Clegg, [2.2.2]Urea cryptand: an easily accessible neutral organic cage for anion binding in water, ChemRxiv 2022, DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2022-vc1j9.

   [2] X. Wu, P. Wang, W. Lewis, Y. B. Jiang, P. A. Gale*, Measuring anion binding at biomembrane interfaces. Nat. Commun. 2022, 13, 4623.

   [3] X. Wu, P. A. Gale*, Measuring anion transport selectivity: a cautionary tale. Chem. Commun. 2021, 57, 3979–3982.

   [4] X. Wu, L. K Macreadie, P. A. Gale*, Anion binding in metal-organic frameworks. Coord. Chem. Rev. 2021, 432, 213708.

   [5] X. Wu, A. Gilchrist, P. A. Gale*, Prospects and challenges in anion recognition and transport. Chem 2020, 6, 1296–1309.

   [6] X. Wu, P. Wang, P. Turner, W. Lewis, O. Catal, D. S. Thomas, P. A. Gale*, Tetraurea macrocycles: aggregation-driven binding of chloride in aqueous solutions. Chem 2019, 5, 1210–1222.

   [7] X. Wu, J. R. Small, A. Cataldo, A. M. Withecombe, P. Turner, P. A. Gale*,Voltage-switchable HCl transport enabled by lipid headgroup-transporter interactions. Angew. Chem.Int. Ed., 2019, 58, 15142–15147.

   [8] X. Wu, E. Howe, P. A. Gale*, Supramolecular transmembrane anion transport: new assays and insights. Acc. Chem. Res. 2018, 51, 1870–1879.

Email: xin.wu@xmu.edu.cn