Kazuhiko Takai

Kazuhiko Takai
Born (1954-12-18) December 18, 1954
Tokyo, Japan
Alma materKyoto University
Known forTakai–Utimoto olefination Nozaki–Hiyama–Takai–Kishi reaction
AwardsChemical Society of Japan Progress Award (1989)

The Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry of Japan Award (2008) Chemical Society of Japan Award (2013)

The Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry of Japan Award (2019)
Scientific career
FieldsOrganic Chemistry Organometallic Chemistry
Thesis Research on synthetic reactions using amphoteric reactors with aluminum as the key atom  (1983)
Doctoral advisorHitosi Nozaki
Websitehttps://web.archive.org/web/20240619001159/http://achem.okayama-u.ac.jp/omc/

Kazuhiko Takai (born December 18, 1954) is a professor emeritus of applied chemistry at Okayama University and is the recipient of the 2013 Chemical Society of Japan Award for his work on the use of catalytic metals in synthesis reactions. He studied at Kyoto University with Hitosi Nozaki and at the University of California, Berkeley with Clayton Heathcock. While he is best known for the eponymous Takai olefination, his career has covered a wide variety of topics, including geminal organometallics, organotantalum chemistry, reactions of platinum-group catalysts, and the applications of group 7 metals in organic synthesis.