“Chinese Chemical Society Chiral China 2021 (2022) Symposium” co-hosted by Chinese Chemical Society, Innovative Drug Research and Development Center, and School of Pharmacy of Sun Yat-sen University was held on 26-28, August, 2022 in Guangzhou, during which time Academician Tu Yongqiang from the State Key Laboratory of applied Organic Chemistry, Lanzhou University, was awarded “the Chiral Chemistry Award.”

The award was set up in 2012 to encourage innovative research in the field of chiral chemistry in China, promoting its development and application. Of the three awards set by the committee–"Chiral Chemistry Achievement Award", "Chiral Chemistry Award”, and "Young Chiral Chemistry Award", the "Chiral Chemistry Award” was awarded every two years to an outstanding scholar and "Young Chiral Chemistry Award" to two young scholars who have made prominent contributions to the research and application of chiral chemistry.

Academician Tu Yongqiang received his Bachelor's, Master's and Doctor's degrees from Lanzhou University in 1982, 1985 and 1989, respectively. From 1993 to 1995, He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Queensland. Then, he returned to Lanzhou University and started his independent research career. His academic achievements include: "Millions of Talents Project" in 1996, "National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars" in 2000, "Organic Chemistry Innovation Group" Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) with three consecutive grants in 2001, "Cheungkong Scholars Distinguished Professor" in 2004. In 2009, he was elected as the academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has also won the "Chinese Chemical Society Young Chemist Award", "Second Prize of Science and Technology Progress Award of State Education Commission", "Outstanding Young Scholar Award" of Qiushi Science & Technologies Foundation, "First Prize of Natural Science Award of Gansu Province", "First Prize of Natural Science Award of Ministry of Education", "Second Prize of China's State Natural Science Award " and so on.

Academician Tu Yongqiang has long been devoted to the study of tandem rearrangement reactions and their application in total syntheses. In recent years, academician Tu Yongqiang has a new research direction, which involves the design and syntheses of spiral pyrrolidine-derived organocatalysts and ligands and their applications in catalytic asymmetric reaction development and total syntheses of bioactive natural products. These novel catalysts developed by academician Tu Yongqiang enable the establishment of catalytic enantioselective reactions for the efficient assembly of quaternary carbon stereogenic centers and C-C bonds, providing new strategies in the synthesis of chiral drugs and natural products. Hitherto, nearly 30 efficient asymmetric total synthesis of natural products and drug molecules have been accomplished. These original and systematic studies have aroused world-wide recognition and received universal concern in the research field of chiral chemistry.