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Yilun Li

B.S., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2025

Yilun was born and raised in Qingdao, Shandong, China. He began his studies at Fuzhou University in 2020, where he worked in Professor Keyin Ye’s lab. During his time at Fuzhou, Yilun developed a method for the electrochemical oxyazidation of α-arylvinyl acetates and contributed to a project on the electrophotocatalytic oxygenation of multiple adjacent C–H bonds. In the fall of 2023, he transferred to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he joined the lab of Professor Scott E. Denmark and developed a chiral disulfonimide-catalyzed, atroposelective iodination method for (hetero)arylamines. Outside of the lab, Yilun enjoys playing badminton, watching animation, playing the piano, and exploring new food.

Fun Facts
  • Yilun loves traveling, but only when he's not traveling, since it can be exhausting.
  • After spending three years in Fuzhou, where summer temperatures could reach 104°F, Yilun thought he’d love living in a cold place—until he experienced the -4°F winter in Champaign.
  • Yilun enjoys photographing clouds, mountains, and sunsets, though he's not exactly good at it.
  • Yilun wasn’t a big beer fan until he tried IPA. (He’s still new to craft beer, so any recommendations are welcome!)