On December 11, the micro-seminar on the synthesis of natural products - one of “Celebrations for the 120th Anniversary of Yang Shixian’s Birth” series activities -was successfully held in the Academic hall at the Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry. It was co-sponsored by the Collaborative Innovation Center of 2011 and the State Key Laboratory of Elemento-organic Chemistry. Seven well-known professors from the field of total synthesis were invited to do reports. Professor Liang Guangxin chaired the opening ceremony and Qu Kai, the secretary of the party committee of the College of Chemistry, delivered the opening remark. Qu expressed his welcome and gratitude for the arrival of guests.

Liang Wenping, the special guest and former Executive Deputy Director of the Department of Chemical Sciences of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, made a speech on behalf of the experts. He reviewed the profound impact of Yang Shixian, who made great contributions to Chinese pesticide chemistry and Nankai University and Nankai Chemistry. He encouraged teachers and students to inherit the spirit of Yang and contribute to China's chemical research.

In the part of academic report, seven professors did wonderful reports of their work. Professor Yao Zhujun, from Nanjing University, gave a detailed account of the total synthesis of the Chlorofusin over the past decade. Prof. Liu Lei, from Tsinghua University, demonstrated the achievements on the total synthesis of protein chemistry. Prof. Zhai Hongbin, from Peking University, gave an excellent report entitled "The Total Synthesis of Several Polycyclic Natural Products", which gave a systematic and in-depth account of his group's strategy in the construction of polycyclic natural products. Professor Yuan Yingjin, from Tianjin University, gave a report entitled "Chemistry Creates Artificial Cell Factory", which explained the synthesis of the complex system from the perspective of biology. Professor Gong Liuzhu, from the University of Science and Technology of China, introduced the research on the asymmetric catalysis of the complex natural product structure. Professor Lei Xiaoguang, from Peking University demonstrated the characteristics of his research group in the research of complex natural product synthesis and chemical biology. Professor Li Weidong, from Chongqing University, gave a detailed introduction to the synthesis of several alkaloids with important biological activities.

The micro-seminar promoted the communication between experts and students. It showed the wonderful findings in chemistry and reflected the hardship in scientific research. At the closing session of the seminar, participants expressed their expectation for more seminars of the same kind.