Dr. Lizhi Tao studied material science and engineering at Jilin University (Changchun, China), graduating with a B.S. degree in 2007. She then went to Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) for graduate studies, where she worked with Prof. Bo-Qing Xu in physical chemistry and focused on acid-base heterogeneous catalysis, graduating with a M.S. degree in 2011. Then, motivated by understanding the perfect designed catalysis of natural enzymes, she went to University of California, Davis in 2012 for her Ph.D. studies. She worked with Prof. R. David Britt and Prof. William H. Casey and focused on using advanced Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to study the catalytic mechanism of multi-copper oxidase MnxG. After she received her Ph.D. degree in 2016, she decided to continue to work in the Britt lab as a postdoctoral fellow. During her postdoctoral studies, she expanded her research systems to multi-disciplinary areas, including biological systems, inorganic synthesized cluster/compound systems, as well as solid metal-oxide catalysis systems. She utilized advanced pulse EPR spectroscopy (ESEEM, HYSCORE, ENDOR, DEER, etc) to investigate diverse chemical reaction systems. The goal of her research is to obtain fundamental molecular-level understanding of the structure-function/reactivity relationship via characterizing key reaction intermediates and fascinating catalytic active sites.

She has published more than 40 research journal articles, including J. Am. Chem. Soc., Nature Chem., Nature Rev. Chem., etc. She received the award of Oversea High-level Investigator in 2021. She joined the Department of Chemistry at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) as an associate professor in 2022.  

Research:

1. Advanced Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Spectroscopy;

2. Probing reaction mechanisms of metalloenzymes;

3. Mechanistic study of organometallic and surface heterogeneous catalysis;

4. Exploring novel enzymes with currently unknown functions in Nature.

Selected Publications：

[10] Y. Zhang#, L. Tao# (co-first author), T. Woods, R. D. Britt and T. B. Rauchfuss, “Organometallic Fe2(μ-SH)2(CO)4(CN)2 cluster allows the biosynthesis of the [FeFe]-hydrogenase with only the HydF maturase”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2022, 144, 1534-1538.

[9] R. D. Britt*, G. Rao* and L. Tao*, “Bioassembly of complex iron–sulfur enzymes: hydrogenases and nitrogenases”, Nat. Rev. Chem., 2020, 4, 542-549.

[8] L. Tao, S. A. Pattenaude, S. Joshi, T. P. Begley, T. B. Rauchfuss and R. D. Britt, “Radical SAM enzyme HydE generates adenosylated Fe(I) intermediates en route to the [FeFe]-hydrogenase catalytic H-cluster”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2020, 142, 10841-10848.

[7] L. Tao, T. Y. Lai, P. P. Power and R. D. Britt, “Germanium hydride radical trapped during the photolysis/thermolysis of diarylgermylene”, Inorg. Chem., 2019, 58, 15034-15038.

[6] L. Tao, W. Zhu, J. P. Klinman and R. D. Britt, “Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic identification of the Fe–S clusters in the SPASM domain-containing radical SAM enzyme PqqE”, Biochemistry, 2019, 58, 5173-5187.

[5] L. Tao, T. A. Stich, C. J. Fugate, J. T. Jarrett and R. D. Britt, “EPR-derived structure of a paramagnetic intermediate generated by biotin synthase BioB”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140, 12947-12963.

[4] L. Tao, T. A. Stich, W. H. Casey, R. D. Britt, et al., “Copper binding sites in the manganese-oxidizing Mnx protein complex investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2017, 139, 8868-8877.

[3] L. Tao, T. A. Stich, W. H. Casey, R. D. Britt, et al., “Mn(II) binding and subsequent oxidation by the multicopper oxidase MnxG investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2015, 137, 10563-10575. 

[2] L. Tao, S.-H. Chai, H.-P. Wang, B. Yan, Y. Liang and B.-Q. Xu, “Comparison of gas-phase dehydration of propane polyols over solid acid–base catalysts”, Catal. Today, 2014, 234, 237-244.

[1] L. Tao, B. Yan, Y. Liang and B.-Q. Xu, “Sustainable production of acrolein: catalytic performance of hydrated tantalum oxides for gas-phase dehydration of glycerol”, Green Chem., 2013, 15, 696-705.