Che received his B.S. degree at HKU in 1978.[4] He then received his Ph. D degree in inorganic chemistry at HKU working under Professor Chung-Kwong Poon in 1980. After earning his Ph. D., he spent 3 years at the California Institute of Technology conducting research in organometallic and bioinorganic chemistry in the laboratory of Harry B. Gray.[5]
Currently, he is the Zhou Guangzhao Professorship in Natural Sciences and Chair of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong.[2]
In December 2021, it was reported that Che was eligible to vote four times in the 2021 Hong Kong legislative election, yielding 0.0459334% of the total voting value (elected seats), which is 9242 times more than the value of an average voter's total voting value.[6]
Che's research interests cover various areas in chemistry such as inorganic chemistry, materials science, photochemistry, and biomedical sciences.[7] He has been engaged in inorganic chemistry research, organometallic synthesis where he and his group have studied high-valent and multimetallic complexes.[8] These molecules have been investigated for their luminescent and catalytic properties. Notable systems that Che has developed include: catalysts for asymmetric olefin epoxidation,[9]biomimetic oxidation catalyst featuring recognition elements, and molecular devices based on luminescent materials.[10]
Che is a pioneer for the chemistry of d8 and d10 metal complexes including their excited state chemistry and closed shell metal-metal interactions of d8 and d10 metal ions.[11] His team has successfully developed practical tetradentate platinum(II)[12] and gold(III)[13] Emitters which are comparable if not superior in performances to the World best Iridium(III) Phosphors
Che has pioneered the developed of Ru-OXO system which has opened up numerous opportunities for efficient catalytic oxidation processes.[14][15]
Furthermore, Che and co-workers developed new methods for epoxidation, cyclopropanation, and aziridination of alkenes.[9][16] His work on bioinorganic chemistry, has produced new understanding for several important processes including modern nitrogen fixation.[17]
Another notable work from Che's group has been the development of gold-, platinum-, ruthenium- and palladium based metal compounds with anti-tumor activity.[18][19][20] Specifically, they found that PEGylated gold(III) conjugates can exhibit multifunctional properties and undergo selective delivery to tumor tissues. Importantly, some of these compounds do not exhibit harmful cytotoxicity to normal cells, as many Pt-based anti-cancer agents do.[21][22]
^Che, Chi Ming.; Cheng, Wing Kin. (1986-07-01). "Novel UV-vis spectral feature and electrochemical behavior of high-valent osmium(VI) dioxo complex of 1,4,8,11-tetramethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane (TMC). Reversible three-electron redox couple and vibronic structured UV-vis absorption bands involving trans-[Os(VI)(TMC)O2]2+". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 108 (15): 4644–4645. doi:10.1021/ja00275a062. ISSN0002-7863.
^ abChan, Wing-Kei; Liu, Peng; Yu, Wing-Yiu; Wong, Man-Kin; Che, Chi-Ming (2004-05-01). "Highly Diastereoselective Epoxidation of Allyl-Substituted Cycloalkenes Catalyzed by Metalloporphyrins". Organic Letters. 6 (10): 1597–1599. doi:10.1021/ol0496475. ISSN1523-7060. PMID15128245.
^Cheng, Gang; Kwak, Yoonhyun; To, Wai-Pong; Lam, Tsz-Lung; Tong, Glenna So Ming; Sit, Man-Ki; Gong, Shaolong; Choi, Byoungki; Choi, Wha il; Yang, Chuluo; Che, Chi-Ming (13 November 2019). "High-Efficiency Solution-Processed Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with Tetradentate Platinum(II) Emitters". ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 11 (48): 45161–45170. doi:10.1021/acsami.9b11715. PMID31718137. S2CID207962058.
^Zhou, Dongling; To, Wai-Pong; Tong, Glenna So Ming; Cheng, Gang; Du, Lili; Phillips, David Lee; Che, Chi-Ming (15 January 2020). "Luminescent Tetradentate Gold(III)-TADF Emitters: Microwave-Assisted Synthesis and High Performance OLEDs With EQEs Up To 25 % and Long Operational Lifetime". Angewandte Chemie. doi:10.1002/ange.201914661. S2CID243070975.
^Che, Chi Ming; Yam, Vivian Wing Wah (1987-02-01). "Model complexes for the cis-ruthenium(VI)-dioxo system. Novel chemistry of [RuIII(N4O)(OH2)][ClO4]2 (N4OH = bis[2-(2-pyridyl)ethyl][2-hydroxy-2-(2-pyridyl)ethyl]amine)". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 109 (4): 1262–1263. doi:10.1021/ja00238a055. ISSN0002-7863.
^Zou, Taotao; Lum, Ching Tung; Lok, Chun-Nam; Zhang, Jing-Jing; Che, Chi-Ming (2015). "Chemical biology of anticancer gold( ) and gold( ) complexes". Chemical Society Reviews. 44 (24): 8786–8801. doi:10.1039/C5CS00132C. PMID25868756.
^Zou, Taotao; Lok, Chun-Nam; Wan, Pui-Ki; Zhang, Zhi-Feng; Fung, Sin-Ki; Che, Chi-Ming (April 2018). "Anticancer metal-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes of gold, platinum and palladium". Current Opinion in Chemical Biology. 43: 30–36. doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2017.10.014. PMID29136524.
^Che, Chi-Ming; Siu, Fung-Ming (April 2010). "Metal complexes in medicine with a focus on enzyme inhibition". Current Opinion in Chemical Biology. 14 (2): 255–261. doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2009.11.015. PMID20018553.
^Lum, Ching Tung; Liu, Xiong; Sun, Raymond Wai-Yin; Li, Xiang-Ping; Peng, Ying; He, Ming-Liang; Kung, Hsiang Fu; Che, Chi-Ming; Lin, Marie C. M. (2010-08-28). "Gold(III) porphyrin 1a inhibited nasopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis in vivo and inhibited cell migration and invasion in vitro". Cancer Letters. 294 (2): 159–166. doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2010.01.033. ISSN1872-7980. PMID20163914.