Under the request of Marshal Rongzhen Nie and China’s renowned chemist Shixian Yang, the State Key Laboratory of Elemento-organic Chemistry (SKLEOC) was founded by pioneering Chinese scientists including organic chemist Prof. Ruyu Chen and pesticide chemist Prof. Zhengming Li. Established in 1985, the SKLEOC was examined and accepted by the state government and officially opened to the public in 1987. The SKLEOC stands as one of the first state key laboratories of the China. At the end of 2024, the SKLEOC was reorganized under the national key laboratory system.

Currently, the SKLEOC is staffed with 99 full-time researchers, 22 technical and support personnel, and 4 administrative staff. Its research team includes four Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) academicians, 23 national high-level talent awardees, 30 young talent awardees, 6 chief scientists of the 973 Program/National Key R&D Program, and 4 NSFC Innovative Research Group leaders.Specializing in novel elemento-organic reagents, catalysts, green pesticides, and functional organic molecular materials, the SKLEOC has achieved multiple groundbreaking advancements over the past decade. These include: Ultra-highly active and selective chiral spiro catalysts (widely influential in asymmetric synthesis); Organic sulfur-based molecular materials that have repeatedly set world records for photoelectric conversion efficiency; China’s first independently developed green herbicide, monosulfuron-ethyl, with full intellectual property rights. For these contributions, the SKLEOC has been honored with one First Prize and three Second Prizes of the National Natural Science Award.

On January 17, 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Nankai University, and visited the SKLEOC. During an inspection, he encouraged faculty and students to strengthen basic research, strive for more achievements in original and independent innovation, and scale new heights in global science and technology. In the new historical era, the SKLEOC remains committed to the "Four Orientations" principle, aligning its research with major national strategic priorities such as life and health, new materials, and food security. Centered on the creation of novel elemento-organic substances, the laboratory conducts cutting-edge applied basic research to address fundamental scientific challenges in Precise synthesis, Functional discovery and regulation in elemento-organic chemistry, green pesticides, and organic molecular materials. Through these efforts, the SKLEOC aims to achieve transformative breakthroughs in precision design and functional exploration of original innovations, ultimately establishing itself as a national strategic scientific powerhouse in novel organic substances.