Research interests

Glycochemistry, Natural Product Chemistry, Fullerene Chemistry

Current research

• Oligosaccharides and glycosphingolipids of biological interest
• Study of sugar-sugar interactions
• Pharmacomodulation of natural products
• Modified cyclodextrins

Selected recent results

• Synthesis of glycosphingolipid analogues as cancer cell inhibitors

• Synthesis of a water-soluble γ-cyclodextrin-fullerene conjugate with antiviral activity

• Induced metal reactions of α-diazocarbonyl glucosides

Scientific career

• 2012 – Member of the National Academy of Pharmacy
• 2007 – Research Director, UMR 8232: CNRS / Sorbonne University
• 2003 – 2007 Research Director, UMR 8642: CNRS / Ecole Normale Supérieure.
• 1997 – 2003 Research Fellow, UMR 8642: CNRS / Ecole Normale Supérieure.
• 1995 – 1997 Visiting Scientist, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
• 1991 – 1995 Research Fellow, URA 1110: CNRS / Ecole Normale Supérieure.
• 1990 – 1991 Visiting Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Paris 11.
• 1988 – 1990 Associate Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Paris 11.
• 1987 – 1988 Postdoctoral training at the Institute of Chemistry of Natural Substances, CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette.
• 1986 – 1987 Postdoctoral training at the Beijing Medical University, China
• 1983 – 1986 PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Director: Marcel Miocque), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Paris 11.
• 1982 – 1983 DEA in Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Paris 11.
• 1977 – 1982 Study at the Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Medical College, China.

Selected publications

1. Redox potentials and binding enhancement of fullerene and fullerene-cyclodextrin systems in water and dimethylsulfoxide. L. Pospisil, M. Hromadová, M. Gál, J. Bulicková, R. Sokolová, S. Filippone, J. Yang, Z. Guan, A. Rassat, Y. Zhang. Carbon 2010, 48, 153-162.
2. Analysis of the reaction coordinate of α-L-fucosidases : a combined structural and quantum mechanical approach. A. L. van Bueren, A. Ardèvol, J. Fayers-Kerr, B. Luo, Y. Zhang, M. Sollogoub, Y. Blériot, C. Rovira, G. J. Davies. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 1804-1806.
3. Mimicking chitin : chemical synthesis, conformational analysis, and molecular recognition of the β(1→3) N-acetylchitopentaose analogue. M. Morando, Y. Yao, S. Martin-Santamaria, Z. Zhu, T. Xu, F. J. Canada, Y. Zhang, J. Jimenez-Barbero. Chem. Eur. J. 2010, 16, 4239-4249.
4. Structural analysis and antitumor activity comparison of polysaccharides from Astragalus. Z. Zhu, R. Liu, C. Si, F. Zhou, Y. Wang, L. Ding, C. Jing, A. Liu, Y. Zhang. Carbohyd. Polym. 2011, 85, 895-902.
5. Study on metal-induced reactions of α-diazocarbonyl glucosides. Z. Guan, L. Zhang, P. Sinaÿ, Y. Zhang. J. Org. Chem. 2012, 77, 8888-8895.
6. Sulfated modification of the polysaccharide from Cordyceps gunnii mycelia and its biological activities. Z. Zhu, Y. Liu, C. Si, J. Yuan, Q. Lv, Y. Li, G. Dong, A. Liu, Y. Zhang. Carbohyd. Polym.2013, 92, 872-876.
7. Gem-difluorocarbadisaccharides : restoring the exo-anomeric effect. B. Xu, L. Unione, J. Sardinha, S. Wu, M. Ethève-Quelquejeu, A. P. Rauter, Y. Blériot, Y. Zhang, S. Martín-Santamaría, D. Diaz, J. Jiménez-Barbero, M. Sollogoub. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 9597-9602.
8. Site-selective hexa-hetero-functionalization of α-cyclodextrin an archetypical C6-symmetric concave cycle. B. Wang, E. Zaborova, S. Guieu, M. Petrillo, M. Guitet, Y. Blériot, M. Ménand, Y. Zhang, M. Sollogoub. Nature Commun. 2014, 5, 5354.
9. 4, 5-cis Unsaturated α-GalCer analogs distinctly led to CD1d-mediated Th1-biased NKT cell responses. Y. Cui, Z. Li, Z. Cheng, C. Xia, Y. Zhang. Chem. Res. Toxicol. 2015, 28, 1209-1215.
10. Biological applications of hydrophilic C60 derivatives (hC60s) − a structural perspective. X. Zhu, M. Sollogoub, Y. Zhang. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2016, 115, 438-452.
11. Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of gentiopicroside derivatives as potential antiviral inhibitors. S. Wu, L. Yang, W. Sun, L. Si, S. Xiao, Q. Wang, L. Dechoux, S. Thorimbert, M. Sollogoub, D. Zhou, Y. Zhang. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2017, 130, 308-319.
12. Secondary-rim γ-cyclodextrin functionalization to conjugate with C60 : improved efficacy as photosensitizer. X. Zhu, A. Quaranta, R. V. Bensasson, M. Sollogoub, Y. Zhang. Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23, 9462-9466.
13. Artificial chiral metallo-pockets including a single metal serving as both structural probe and catalytic center. P. Zhang, C. Tugny, J. M. Suárez, M. Guitet, E. Derat, N. Vanthuyne, Y. Zhang, O. Bistri, V. Mouriès-Mansuy, M. Ménand, S. Roland, L. Fensterbank, M. Sollogoub. Chem 2017, 3, 174-191.
14. Cyclodextrin cavity-induced mechanistic switch in copper-catalyzed hydroboration. P. Zhang, J. M. Suárez, T. Driant, E. Derat, Y. Zhang, M. Ménand, S. Roland, M. Sollogoub. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 10821-10825.
15. Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of water-soluble per-O-methylated cyclodextrin-C60 conjugates as anti-influenza virus agents. X. Zhu, S. Xiao, D. Zhou, M. Sollogoub, Y. Zhang. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2018, 146, 194-205.
16. Chemoenzymatically synthesized GM3 analogues as potential therapeutic agents to recover nervous functionality after injury by inducing neurite outgrowth. C. Zheng, H. Qu, W. Liao, T. Bavaro, M. Terreni, M. Sollogoub, K. Ding, Y. Zhang. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2018, 146, 613-620.