Akimitsu Narita

Akimitsu Narita
Akimitsu Narita
Assistant Professor
Dr. rer. nat. (Doctorate in Chemistry), Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research; Degree granted by Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, 2014
MS Chemistry, University of Tokyo, Japan, 2010
BS Chemistry, University of Tokyo, Japan, 2008
E-mail: akimitsu.narita(at)oist.jp
 

Akimitsu Narita was born and raised in Yokohama, Japan. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemistry at the University of Tokyo under the supervision of Professor Eiichi Nakamura. He then joined Professor Klaus Müllen's group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) in Mainz, Germany and obtained his doctorate in Chemistry from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in 2014. In the same year, he became a project leader in the Synthetic Chemistry Department at MPIP. In 2018, he joined OIST as an Assistant Professor (Adjunct) to lead the Organic and Carbon Nanomaterials Unit. He is now working full-time as an Assistant Professor at OIST since 2020.

Professional Experience

  • Assistant Professor, Organic and Carbon Nanomaterials Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Japan, 2020-present
  • Part-Time Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany, 2020-present
  • Assistant Professor (Adjunct), Organic and Carbon Nanomaterials Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Japan, 2018-2020
  • Project Leader/Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany, 2014-2020
  • Doctoral Researcher, Synthetic Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany, 2010-2014

Awards and Honors

  • Runner-Up, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Prizes 2014 (Selected as one of the 10 finalists in the prize category “Promising Research Talent” and achieved the 2nd position.), 2014
  • CSJ Presentation Award, the 96th Annual Meeting of the Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ), 2016
  • The Chemical Society of Japan Award for Young Chemists for 2017
  • JAFOE Best Speaker Award, the sixteenth Japan-America Frontiers of Engineering (JAFOE) Symposium, 2023
  • Member, The Engineering Academy of Japan (EAJ), since 2024

Selected Publications

  • X. Zhu,# Q. Chen,# H. Zhao,# Q. Yang, Goudappagouda, M. Gelléri, S. Ritz, D. Ng, K. Koynov, S. H. Parekh, V. K. Chetty, B. K. Thakur, C. Cremer, K. Landfester, K. Müllen, M. Terenzio, M. Bonn,* A. Narita,* X. Liu,* Intrinsic Burst-Blinking Nanographenes for Super-Resolution Bioimaging. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 5195–5203. (Selected as the Cover)
  • 80 Years of MCP: The Next Generation of Polymer Researchers: Q. Chen, M. Di Giovannantonio,* K. Eimre, J. I. Urgel, P. Ruffieux, C. A. Pignedoli, K. Müllen, R. Fasel,* A. Narita,* On-Surface Interchain Coupling and Skeletal Rearrangement of Indenofluorene Polymers. Macromol. Chem. Phys. 2023, 224, 2300345.
  • J. Tan, X. Xu, J. Liu, S. Vasylevskyi, Z. Lin, R. Kabe, Y. Zou, K. Müllen, A. Narita,* Y. Hu,* Synthesis of a π-Extended Double [9]Helicene. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202218494.
  • X. Xu, R. Muñoz-Mármol, S. Vasylevskyi, A. Villa, G. Folpini, F. Scotognella, G. Maria Paternò,* A. Narita,* Synthesis of Bioctacene-Incorporated Nanographene with Near-Infrared Chiroptical Properties. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202218350.
  • K. Biswas, D. Soler, S. Mishra, Q. Chen, X. Yao, A. Sánchez-Grande, K. Eimre, P. Mutombo, C. Martín-Fuentes, K. Lauwaet, J. M. Gallego, P. Ruffieux, C. A. Pignedoli, K. Müllen, R. Miranda, J. I. Urgel,* A. Narita,* R. Fasel,* P. Jelínek,* D. Écija,* Steering Large Magnetic Exchange Coupling in Nanographenes near the Closed-Shell to Open-Shell Transition. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 2968–2974.
  • ChemComm 2022 Emerging Investigators: X. Xu, A. L. Vonder Haar, R. Yoshioka, Q. Zhang, S. Vasylevskyi, A. J. Musser,* A. Narita,* Solvent-tunable exciton-charge transfer mixed state enhances emission of functionalized benzo[rst]pentaphene through symmetry breaking. Chem. Commun. 2023, 59, 720–723.
  • Rising Stars: H. Zhao, X. Xu, L. Zhou, Y. Hu, Y. Huang, A. Narita,* Water-Soluble Nanoparticles with Twisted Double [7]Carbohelicene for Lysosome-Targeted Cancer Photodynamic Therapy. Small 2022, 18, 2105365.
  • G. M. Paternò, Q. Chen, R. Muñoz-Mármol, M. Guizzardi, V. Bonal, R. Kabe, A. J. Barker, P. G. Boj, S. Chatterjee, Y. Ie, J. M. Villalvilla, J. A. Quintana, F. Scotognella, K. Müllen, M. A. Díaz-García,* A. Narita,* G. Lanzani,* Excited states engineering enables efficient near-infrared lasing in nanographenes. Mater. Horiz. 2022, 9, 393–404. 
  • S. Mishra, X. Yao, Q. Chen, K. Eimre, O. Gröning, R. Ortiz, M. D. Giovannantonio, J. C. Sancho-García, J. Fernández-Rossier, C. A. Pignedoli, K. Müllen, P. Ruffieux, A. Narita,* R. Fasel,* Giant magnetic exchange coupling in rhombus-shaped nanographenes with zigzag periphery. Nature Chem. 2021, 13, 581–586.
  • E. Jin, Q. Yang, C.-W. Ju, Q. Chen, K. Landfester, M. Bonn,* K. Müllen,* X. Liu,* A. Narita,* A Highly Luminescent Nitrogen-Doped Nanographene as an Acid- and Metal-Sensitive Fluorophore for Optical Imaging. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 10403–10412. (Highlighted in Synfacts, 2021, 17, 1093.)
  • X. Yao, W. Zheng, S. Osella, Z. Qiu, S. Fu, D. Schollmeyer, B. Müller, D. Beljonne, M. Bonn, H. I. Wang, K. Müllen,* A. Narita,* Synthesis of Nonplanar Graphene Nanoribbon with Fjord Edges. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 5654–5658.
  • Z. Qiu, C.-W. Ju, L. Frédéric, Y. Hu, D. Schollmeyer, G. Pieters,* K. Müllen,* A. Narita,* Amplification of Dissymmetry Factors in π-Extended [7]- and [9]Helicenes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 4661–4667.
  • Z. Qiu, S. Asako,* Y. Hu, C.-W. Ju, T. Liu, L. Rondin, D. Schollmeyer, J.-S. Lauret, K. Müllen,* A. Narita,* Negatively Curved Nanographene with Heptagonal and [5]Helicene Units. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 14814–14819.
  • Journal of Materials Chemistry C Emerging Investigators 2019: Q. Chen, W. Zajaczkowski, J. Seibel, S. De Feyter, W. Pisula,* K. Müllen,* A. Narita,* Synthesis and helical supramolecular organization of discotic liquid crystalline dibenzo[hi,st]ovalene. J. Mater. Chem. C 2019, 7, 12898–12906.
  • Q. Chen, D. Schollmeyer, K. Müllen,* A. Narita,* Synthesis of Circumpyrene by Alkyne Benzannulation of Brominated Dibenzo[hi,st]ovalene. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 19994–19999.
  • Q. Chen, L. Brambilla, L. Daukiya, K. S. Mali, S. De Feyter, M. Tommasini, K. Müllen, A. Narita, Synthesis of Triply Fused Porphyrin-Nanographene Conjugates. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 11233–11237. (Highlighted in Synfacts, 2018, 14, 1032.)
  • O. Gröning, S. Wang, X. Yao, C. A. Pignedoli, G. Borin Barin, C. Daniels, A. Cupo, V. Meunier, X. Feng, A. Narita, K. Müllen, P. Ruffieux, R. Fasel, Engineering of robust topological quantum phases in graphene nanoribbons. Nature, 2018, 560, 209–213. (Highlighted in News and Views, Nature, 2018, 557, 175–176.)
  • G. M. Paternò, Q. Chen, X.-Y. Wang, J. Liu, S. G. Motti, A. Petrozza, X. Feng, G. Lanzani, K. Müllen, A Narita, F. Scotognella, Synthesis of Dibenzo[hi,st]ovalene and Its Amplified Spontaneous Emission in a Polystyrene Matrix. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2017, 56, 6753–6757.
  • A. Narita, X. Feng, Y. Hernandez, S. A. Jensen, M. Bonn, H. Yang, I. A. Verzhbitskiy, C. Casiraghi, M. R. Hansen, A. H. R. Koch, G. Fytas, O. Ivasenko, B. Li, K. S. Mali, T. Balandina, S. Mahesh, S. De Feyter, K. Müllen, Synthesis of structurally well-defined and liquid-phase-processable graphene nanoribbons. Nature Chem., 2014, 6, 126–132. (Highlighted in News and Views, Nature Chem., 2014, 6, 91–92.)

Full publication list; Google Scholar Citations