J N Moorthy

Director

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram

Professor

Dept. of Chemistry
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Director, IISER Thiruvananthapuram

Professor, Dept. of Chemistry, IIT Kanpur

I obtained my Ph. D. from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore in 1994 in Organic Chemistry and went on to pursue postdoctoral research at the University of Houston, USA (1994-95), University of Wuerzberg, Germany (1995-96) and the University of Victoria, Canada, (1996-1998). I initially joined the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in June 1998 as an Assistant Professor and moved after a 5-month stint to the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK). I became a full professor at this Institute in January 2008. I have been actively engaged in teaching and research in the general area of physical organic chemistry. Since April 2019, I have been on deputation from IITK at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM) as Director.

1989-1993
Joint UGC-CSIR Junior and Senior Research Fellowships
1995-1996
AvH Postdoctoral Fellowship, Germany
2003
Young Chemist Award, Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI), India
2004-2005
Visiting Professor (AvH), International University Bremen, Germany
2007
Visiting Professor (RSC Journals Grants), Jacobs University Bremen, Germany
2007-2010
Ramanna Research Fellowship, Department of Science and Technology, India
2008
ICTS (International Centre of Trans-Disciplinary Studies) Fellow, Jacobs University, Germany
2008
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Chemical Sciences, CSIR, India
2009
Recipient of Bronze Medal, Chemical Research Society of India
2010
Elected Fellow of Indian Academy of Science (FASc.), Bangalore
2010
Visiting Professor, University of Strasburg, Strasburg, France
2010
Visiting Professor, Osaka University, Japan
2011-2013
Member of the Editorial Board, New Journal of Chemistry, published jointly by RSC and CNRS
2011-2014
Lalit M. Kapoor Chair Professor, IIT Kanpur
2012-2015
Member of the Editorial Board, International Journal of Photoenergy, published by Hindhavi Publisher
2014
FRSC (Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry)
2015-2018
Dr. Jag Mohan Garg Chair Professor, IIT Kanpur
2015
J. C. Bose Fellowship, SERB
2016
Millenium Plaque of Honor in 103rd Indian Science Congress Association (Awarded by Hon'ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi)
2018
Silver Medal, Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI), India
2020
Sastra-CNR Rao Prize in Chemical Sciences, Sastra University, Trichy
2023
Asian and Oceanian Photochemistry Association (APA) Award 2023.
Organic Photochemistry
Supramolecular Chemistry
Mechanistic Organic Chemistry
Organic Synthesis
Organic Materials

2024

  • Sahoo, A. K.; Yadav, C.; Moorthy, J. N. “Copper Complexes of Thiazolo[5,4-d]Thiazole-Based Porous Polymers: Efficient Catalytic Synthesis of 2-Arylquinolines and 2-Arylbenzothiazoles.” Appl. Catal. A Gen. 2024, 671, 119557.
  • Tamuly, P.; Moorthy, J. N “De Novo Synthesis of Acridone-Based Zn-Metal–Organic Framework (Zn-MOF) as a Photocatalyst: Application for Visible Light-Mediated Oxidation of Sulfides and Enaminones.” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2024, 16, 3348–3358

2023

  • Karn, A.; Yadav, C.; Sahoo, A. K.; Moorthy, J. N "Porous Organic Polymer with Free Carboxylic Acids (Carboxy-POP) for Heterogeneous Catalytic One-Pot Synthesis of Xanthenes and Acridines", ChemCatChem 2023, 15, e202300727
  • K. N. Parida, Moorthy, J. N. “Catalytic Oxidations with ortho-Substituted Modified IBXs” Synlett 34 (06), 495-506.
  • Yadav, N.; Payra,S.; Tamuly, P.; Moorthy, J. N, "Dioxygen Concentration-Dependent Selective Hydroxysulfonylation of Olefins By Rose Bengal-Sensitized Photocatalysis" Org. Biomol. Chem. 2023, 21, 7994.
  • K. Jana, D. Sarkar, P. Jaiswal, Moorthy, J. N, “Synthesis and Excited-State Properties of Donor–Acceptor Azahelical Coumarins” J. Org. Chem. 2023, 88 (11), 6611-6622.
  • N. Yadav, S. R. Bhatta, Moorthy, J. N, “Visible Light-Induced Decomposition of Acyl Peroxides Using Isocyanides: Synthesis of Heteroarenes by Radical Cascade Cyclization” J. Org. Chem. 2023, 88 (9), 5431-5439.
  • K. N Parida, Moorthy, J. N, “λ3‐ and λ5‐Iodanes: Substituent Effects and Pseudorotation/Hypervalent Twisting” Chemistry–A European Journal, 2023, e202203997.
  • K. Jana, Moorthy, J. N, “Influence of Triptycene Annulation on the Photochromism of Diphenylnaphthopyrans: Entropic Control of Thermal Reversion” Chemistry–A European Journal, 2023, 29 (11), e202202757.

2022

  • C. Yadav, S. Payra, Moorthy, J. N, “Ionic porous organic polymer (IPOP) based on twisted biphenyl Scaffold: Green and efficient heterogeneous catalytic synthesis of β-Arylthioketones and biscoumarins” Journal of Catalysis 413, 769-778.
  • K. N. Parida, Moorthy, J. N, “Catalytic Oxidations with ortho-Substituted Modified IBXs” Synlett.
  • P. Tamuly, F. Sama, Moorthy, J. N, Metal–Organic Nanosheets (MONs): Exfoliation by Mechanical Grinding and Iodine Capture, Adv. Mater. Interfaces 2022, 9, 2200337.
  • S. Jindal, Moorthy, J. N, Zwitterionic Luminescent 2D Metal–Organic Framework Nanosheets (LMONs): Selective Turn-On Fluorescence Sensing of Dihydrogen Phosphate, Inorg. Chem. 61 (9), 2022, 3942-3950.
  • K. Jana, Moorthy, J. N, Homoconjugation in triptycenes: an inquiry through photochromism, New J. Chem., 2022, 46, 1416.
  • S. Payra, N. Yadav, Moorthy, J. N, Solvent-mediated switching between oxidative addition and addition–oxidation: access to β-hydroxysulfides and β-arylsulfones by the addition of thiols to olefins in the  presence of Oxone, New J. Chem., 2022, 46, 582.

2021

  • A. Mukhopadhyay, S. Jindal, V. K. Maka, Moorthy, J. N, “Contrasting Photochromic and Acidochromic Behaviors of Pyridyl-and Pyrimidylethynylated Mono-and Bis-Benzopyrans” ACS omega 6 (32), 21113-21124.
  • S. Jindal, V. K. Maka, G. Anjum, Moorthy, J. N, Anthracene-Bisimidazole Tetraacid Linker-Based Metal–Organic Nanosheets for Turn-On Fluorescence Sensing of Nerve Agent Mimics ACS Applied Nano Materials 4 (1), 449-458.
  • S. Jindal, G. Anjum, V. K. Maka, Moorthy, J. N, “Mechanoluminescence and aggregation-enhanced emission (AEE) of an In-MOF based on a 9, 9′-diphenyl-9 H-fluorene tetraacid linker” Nanoscale 13 (21), 9668-9677.

2020

  • C. Yadav, V.K. Maka, S. Payra, Moorthy, J. N, “De Novo Access to SO3H-Grafted Porous Organic Polymers (POPs@H): Synthesis of Diarylbenzopyrans/Naphthopyrans and Triazoles by Heterogeneous Catalytic  Cyclocondensation and Cycloaddition Reactions” ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2 (8),2020, 3084-3093.
  • V. K. Maka, P. Tamuly, S. Jindal, Moorthy, J. N, “Control of In-MOF topologies and tuning of porosity through ligand structure, functionality and interpenetration: Selective cationic dye exchange” Applied Materials Today 19, 2020, 100613.
  • A. Mukhopadhyay, S. Jindal, G. Savitha, Moorthy, J. N, “Temperature-Dependent Emission and Turn-Off Fluorescence Sensing of Hazardous “Quat” Herbicides in Water by a Zn-MOF Based on a Semi-Rigid Dibenzochrysene Tetraacetic Acid Linker” Inorg. Chem. 59 (9), 2020, 6202-6213.
  • C. Yadav, V. K. Maka, S. Payra, Moorthy, J. N, “Multifunctional porous organic polymers (POPs): Inverse adsorption of hydrogen over nitrogen, stabilization of Pd (0) nanoparticles, and catalytic cross-coupling reactions and  reductions” Journal of Catalysis 384, 2020, 61-71.
  • S. Jindal, V. K. Maka, Moorthy, J. N, “Selective sensing of aliphatic biogenic polyamines by a zwitterionic Cd-MOF based on bisimidazole tetracarboxylic acid linker” J. Mater. Chem. C 8 (33), 2020, 11449-11456.

2019

  • A. Chandra, K. Jana, Moorthy, J. N “One-Pot Synthesis of 4-Carboalkoxy-Substituted Benzo[h]coumarins from α- and β-Naphthols and Their Excited-State Properties” ACS omega 5 (1), 2019, 207-218.
  • E. D. Jemmis, Moorthy, J. N, R. Murugavel, “Special issue on 150 years of the periodic table” Journal of Chemical Sciences 131 (12),2019, 1-2.
  • A. Mukhopadhyay, K. Jana, T. Hossen, K. Sahu, Moorthy, J. N, “Coumarin-annelated regioisomeric heptahelicenes: influence of helicity on excited-state properties and chiroptical properties” The Journal of Organic Chemistry 84 (17), 2019, 10658-10668.
  • A. Chandra, N. R. Yadav, Moorthy, J. N, “Facile synthesis of isatins by direct oxidation of indoles and 3-iodoindoles using NIS/IBX” Tetrahedron 75 (14), 2019, 2169-2174.
  • N. Dey, D. Biswakarma, A. Bajpai, Moorthy, J. N, S. Bhattacharya, “Modulation of Excited‐State Proton‐Transfer Dynamics inside the Nanocavity of Microheterogeneous Systems: Microenvironment‐Sensitive Förster Energy Transfer to Riboflavin” Chem Phys Chem 20 (6), 2019, 881-889.
  • V. K. Maka, A. Mukhopadhyay, S. Jindal, Moorthy, J. N, “Redox‐Reversible 2D Metal–Organic Framework Nanosheets (MONs) Based on the Hydroquinone/Quinone Couple” Chemistry–A European Journal 25 (15), 2019, 3835-3842.

2018

  • A. Mukhopadhyay, V. K. Maka, Moorthy, J. N, “Influence of silyloxy substitution on the photochromic properties of diarylbenzo- and naphthopyrans” Journal of Chemical Sciences 130 (10), 2018,1-9.
  • V. K. Maka, A. Mukhopadhyay, G. Savitha, Moorthy, J. N, “Fluorescent 2D metal–organic framework nanosheets (MONs): design, synthesis and sensing of explosive nitroaromatic compounds (NACs)” Nanoscale 10 (47), 2018, 22389-22399.
  • S. Jhulki, Moorthy, J. N, “Small Molecular Hole-Transporting Materials (HTMs) in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs): Structural Diversity and Classification” J. Mater. Chem. C 06, 2018, 8280.
  • S. Seth, G. Savitha, Moorthy, J. N, “Metal-Mediated Self-Assembly of a Twisted Biphenyl-Tetraacid Linker with Semi-Rigid Core and Peripheral Flexibility: Concomitant Formation of Compositionally-Distinct MOFs” Cryst. Growth Des. 18, 2018, 2129.
  • A. Mukhopadhyay, V. K. Maka, G. Savitha, Moorthy, J. N, “Photoresponsive 2D Metal-Organic Nanosheets (MONs) by Top-Down Exfoliation of De Novo Synthesized Layered Metal-Organic Materials (MOMs)” Chem. (Cell Press) 04, 2018, 1059.
  • A. Mukhopadhyay, K. Mandal, Moorthy, J. N, “Anionic Merocyanine Dyes Based on Thiazol-2-Hydrazides: Reverse Solvatochromism, Preferential Solvation and Multiparametric Approaches to Spectral Shift ” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 20, 2018, 4149.
  • S. Jhulki,S. Seth, S. A. Rather, A. Ghosh, T. J. Chow, Moorthy, J. N, “A Nitrogen-Free Bifunctional Bianthryl Leads to White Light Emission in Bilayer and Multilayer OLED Devices” ACS Omega, 03, 2018, 1416.
  • M. J. Bertocchi, Z-F. Zhang, A. Bajpai, Moorthy, J. N, R. G. Weiss “Fluorescence quenching of sterically-graded pyrene molecules by N,N-dialkylanilines. Exciplexes or locally excited states?" J. Photochem. Photobiol. A. 355, 2018, 467.

Complete List of Publications

Present Members

Ph.D.

Navin Yadav
M.Sc. Mumbai University, Maharashtra
Joined in Jan 2017
Parag Tamuly
M.Sc. Tezpur University, Assam
Joined in Jan 2017
Gulshan Anjum
M.Sc. Lucknow University, Uttar Pradesh
Joined in Jan 2018
Debarghya Sarkar
M.Sc. University of Calcutta, West Bengal
Joined in Jul 2018
Ajay Kumar Sahoo
M.Sc. Sambalpur University, Odisha
Joined in Jul 2018
Alka Karn
M.Sc. NIT Meghalaya, Meghalaya
Joined in Jul 2019
Sabyasachi Bag
M.Sc.- Gangadhar Meher University, Odisha
Joined in Jul 2022
Arun Kumar
M.Sc.- IIT Mandi
Joined in Jul 2023
Shikha Singh
M.Sc.- University of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
Joined in Jul 2023

Post Doctoral Fellows

Dr. Ashish Kumar
Ph.D.- IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, Jharkhand (2018)
Joined in Nov 2020
Dr. Sushil Ranjan Bhatta
Ph.D.- Jadavpur University, Kolkata (2021)
Joined in Mar 2022

Past Members

Ph.D.

Dr. Chetna Yadav
Completed in 2023
Current Position : PostDoc, Purdue University, USA
Dr. Kanyashree Jana
Completed in 2023
Current Position : PostDoc, University of Texas, San Antonio, USA
Dr. Swati Jindal
Completed in 2022
Current Position : PostDoc, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Dr. Vijay Kumar Maka
Completed in 2019
Current Position : PostDoc, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Dr. Ajeet Chandra
Completed in 2019
Current Position : PostDoc, Department of Information Display, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
Dr. Arindam Mukhopadhyay
Completed in 2017
Current Position : Idaho National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Energy & Environment Science & Technology.
Dr. Chandrasekhar Pujari
Completed in 2016
Current Position : Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Karnataka Central University
Dr. Abhaya Kumar Mishra
Completed in 2016
Current Position : Senior Scientist, Sygnature Discovery Ltd. Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Dr. Samik Jhulki
Completed in 2016
Current Position : Research Scientist, Georgia Tech and SilaNanotech, Inc.
Dr. Keshaba Nanda Parida
Completed in 2015
Current Position : CSIR-SRA, Pool Scientist, IISER Thiruvananthapuram
Dr. Saona Seth
Completed in 2015
Current Position : Post-Doctoral Fellow, Prof. Adam Matzger's Group, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Dr. Ishita Neogi
Completed in 2015
Current Position : Scientist, CSIR-NIIST, AcSIR Assistant Professor,Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Dr. Alankriti Bajpai
Completed in 2014
Current Position : Scientist, University of Alabama, USA
Dr. Susovan Mandal
Completed in 2013
Current Position : Assistant Professor, Jhargram Raj College, West Bengal
Dr. Kalyan Senapati
Completed in 2011
Current Position : Assistant Professor, Mahatma Gandhi College, West Bengal
Dr. Satyajit Saha
Completed in 2011
Current Position : UGC-Assistant Professor, Department of Speciality Chemicals Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai
Dr. Palani Natarajan
Completed in 2010
Current Position : Assistant Professor (stage-2), Department of Chemistry & CAS, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
Dr. Subhas Samanta
Completed in 2009
Current Position : Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Calcutta
Dr. Nidhi Singhal
Completed in 2007
Current Position :
Dr. Parthasarathy Venkatakrishnan
Completed in 2007
Current Position : Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM)
Dr. Ramalingam Natarajan
Completed in 2005
Current Position : Senior Scientist, Chemistry Division, CSIR Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB) Kolkata
Dr. Prasenjit Mal
Completed in 2004
Current Position : Associate Professor, NISER Bhubaneswar

Post Doctoral Fellows

Dr. H. Nagarajaiah
Completed in
Dr. Nagarajaiah obtained his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Bangalore University and joined the group in 2014 as a DST Fast Track Young Scientist.
Dr. Soumen Payra
Completed in
Dr. Payra submitted his Ph.D. thesis at Guru Ghasidas Central University, Bilaspur in 2017 and joined the group in 2018 as research associate.
Dr. Farasha Sama
Completed in
Dr. Farasha obtained her Ph.D degree from Aligarh Muslim University and she joined the group in 2019 as N-PDF.

Director,
Indian Institute of Science Education & Research Thiruvananthapuram,
Maruthamala Post, Vithura,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala - 695551
Mail: padirector[at]iisertvm[dot]ac[dot]in