Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Welcome party!! We all are super excited to have Ingita, Geoffrey, Weiwen, and Joshua!! Let’s explore the unknown and crazy chemistry!! 030
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Diversity-oriented two-step APEX opens new nanographene space! Starting from unfunctionalized PAHs, we can rapidly access structurally diverse and complex nanographenes including a negatively curved 5–6–7-ring framework. Congrats Honami and the team! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 040
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 24/08/2026“The advent of molecular nanocarbon biology,” is now out in @chemicalscience.rsc.org! We highlight how precisely synthesized carbon frameworks are opening new opportunities in imaging, delivery, therapeutics, and biocatalysis. Congrats Kazuma and Ayaka! doi.org/10.1039/D6SC... 072
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 12/08/2026PAHs are no longer static molecular skeletons. We can grow, diversify, and even edit them. Our Review is now out in @ACSChemRev! From APEX to skeletal/molecular editing, all through cycloaddition-based retrosynthetic logic. Congrats Sajan and the team! doi.org/10.1021/acs.... 050
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Congratulations to Ayaka and everyone! A wonderful @JST_ASPIRE collaboration with Bart Jan Ravoo and Christos Gatsogiannis at the University of Münster. I was so excited by this cryo-EM structure that I couldn’t sleep! Video by Issey Takahashi (@RIKEN). More to come—stay tuned! 020
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Cryo-EM resolves the fibers at 1.7 Å, revealing tightly packed protofilaments, ordered water channels, and a unidirectional dipole along the fiber. Together, aromatic stacking, polar interactions, and water organization generate emergent electrostatics and mechanical resilience. 010
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Our paper, “Atomic-precision π-driven peptide hydrogel nanofibers with ordered water channels,” is now out in @NatureComms! A π-extended aromatic unit turns a terminally uncapped dipeptide into a highly ordered, self-healing supramolecular hydrogel. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 030
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 03/04/2026Welcoming the new academic year under the cherry blossoms 🌸 The beautiful weather and sakura make it feel like a year of exciting research and big breakthroughs ahead. 040
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 16/03/2026Our CoMBiS kickoff symposium (supported by JST ASPIRE) was huge success!! Thank you so much everyone for the organization and sharing exciting science!!! 041
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 09/03/2026Excited for the kickoff symposium of the Itami ASPIRE project (CoMBiS) this week at RIKEN! Researchers from Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Korea, and Japan will come together to spark new international collaborations in carbon-based material–biology interface science (CoMBiS)! 021
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 22/02/2026Super fun lab trip at Hakone!! Lots of foods, drinks, activity, and laugh, making our bonds stronger!! We all greatly appreciate Andoh-kun and Ayaka for amazing organization!! You are GOAT! 050
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 05/02/2026Big news! 🎉 Our very own Hideya Kono has been awarded the Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists, recognizing outstanding researchers under 37. Massive congrats, Hideya! 040
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 27/12/2025Super excited to hear significant research progress at our year-end presentation! Of course we fully enjoyed the year-end party afterwards!! Thank you all for our great 2025 and let’s make our 2026 even greater!! 020
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 19/12/2025Mini ASPiRE happening at Honolulu with @cathleencrudden.bsky.social 061
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 06/12/2025German Christmas Night in Itami Lab!! Thank you all!! Sooo fun! 060
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 28/11/2025Great pizza party!!! Otsukare party for the Itami Lab Reunion Symposium which was huge success! Many thanks all!! 020
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 08/11/2025Itami Lab Reunion Symposium, IKOCS, was huge success!!! 140 people gathered in RIKEN! Great lectures, discussion, and party!!! So many thanks for coming and also to current members for dedicated organization! GOAT! 090
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 03/10/2025We welcome Lucas (6 month master course study) and Ayaka (staff scientist) in Itami Lab!! So nice to have you two! Let’s explore crazy chemistry!!! 060
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 18/09/2025It was huge fun!! Many thanks Murakami Lab!!! See you next at RIKEN!! 030
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 16/09/2025Kei Murakami (previous staff) and Yota Sakakibara (previous student) in front of beautiful campus. Super great host! 030
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 16/09/2025Yesterday I fully enjoyed the really exciting discussion and mixing with Murakami Lab, Kwansei Gakuin University. Door to door it took me 6 hours to come but worth it! Today and tomorrow, I will do extensive short course and lecture! 040
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 11/09/2025Tomoki’s work making non-emissive [6]CPP fluorescent by simple multiple methyl substitution is now out @chemicalscience.rsc.org ! We hope this simple, yet pronounced ‘methyl effect’ facilitates the design and application of CPP-based materials in various fields! pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/A... 082
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 03/09/2025Happy birthday Prof. Noyori and Dorae-mon! Don’t miss Noyori’s autobiography “Research should be fresh, simple, and clear”, recently released ! l-i-c.org/ryoji-noyori... 070
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 08/08/2025We very much enjoyed the lecture by Bruce Yu from Academia Sinica, Taiwan! Very insightful and exciting!! Thanks Bruce! 010
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 08/08/2025So great to have two very active players in our lab! Welcome Asim and Ando-kun to Itami Lab!! It was very nice welcome party last night with LOTS of Indian curry! 050
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 23/07/2025A great collaborative paper with Jean Bouffard Lab is out in JACS! From your arenes and molecular nanocarbons, you can make C-H amination products! My favorite examples are double amination of CPP and coronene! Congrats Rikuo, Sajan, and the team! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... 040
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 07/07/2025A simple, Mg-mediated, 12-fold dearomative esterification of carbon nanobelt, dedicated to Fraser Stoddart in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social. Huge congrats to Tsubasa, Takehisa & the team! Nice artwork created by Issey Takahashi! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 070
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 09/06/2025The first all-azine nanoring is now out in @NatureComms. The very strong collaborative team of Nagoya-Munster-RIKEN made this possible, particularly Till Drennhaus. Many thanks and congrats to all involved! Issey Takahashi made another eye-catching artwork shown here. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 050
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 05/06/2025Our in-insect nanocarbon synthesis is now out in @ScienceMagazine. Enjoy our crazy campaign feeding molecules to insects densely packed with diverse enzymes and let them produce new functional compounds! Many thanks and huge congrats to all involved!! science.org/doi/10.1126/sc… 1245
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 24/03/2025Yesterday we had Prof. Gong Chen from Nankai Univ! We all were very excited to see his amazingly simple, robust, and smart tools for peptide and protein modifications! We will start using his “magic” solvents/additives in RIKEN’s chemistry! Many thanks Gong!! 060
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 03/03/2025It was so exciting to host Harry Anderson from Oxford!! All RIKEN scientists were blown away with the beauty and properties of his porphyrin-based molecular wires and nanorings! Thanks a million Harry for inspiring lecture and discussion! 090
Ken Itami @kenitami.bsky.social · 03/02/2025Our thiophene belt paper is now out in @naturecomms.bsky.social ! This amazing connecting-the-dot molecules (structurally beautiful aromatic belt + function-rich thiophene) were designed and synthesized by our very own Hiroki Shudo! Congrats all! (1/4) www.nature.com/articles/s41... 081