LI Lemin was born in Dianbai County, Guangdong Province, in December, 1935. He graduated from the Department of Technical Physics of Peking University in 1959 and has been teaching in the university since then. He graduated from the university with a master’s degree in 1965. He was a visiting scientist of the Institute of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Department of Energy (the United States) in 1965. He became an academician of the Division of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1991. Currently, he is a professor and doctoral advisor of the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Peking University and the director of the Academic Committee of the college, a member of the Academic Committee of Peking University and of the Faculty of Sciences, and the director of the Research Center for Rare Earth Chemistry, Peking University.
Professor Li Lemin researched on the nuclear fuel coordination chemistry and extraction chemistry at the early stage of his career. He explained the solvent effect of the inert diluent in the process of extraction by referring to the regular solution theory. He applied the two-phase titration method in the production of the complex extract. Professor Li has focused on the study of quantum chemistry and physical inorganic chemistry since 1977. He has achieved some innovative research results in fields such as the homologous linear rule, the double-sphere coordination point-charge field model, the atom and atomic orbital in the molecule, and the structure activity relationship of some narcotic analgesics. Li had a systematic study of the electronic structure and bond formation characteristics of the lanthanide compound as well as the influence of the relativistic effect, and explained the micro-mechanism of the rule of how the stability of the compound changes. He developed the method and procedure of four-component, two-component and scalar relativistic and non-relativistic density functional calculations with high accuracy. He proposed a new method to perform the partition calculation in large systems with the calculation with high accuracy in local areas or with the relativistic calculation, and a method to combine relativistic density functional calculation with non-relativistic density functional calculation. Professor Li won the second prize of the State Natural Science Award in 1987 with his research result “Applied Quantum Chemistry - Bond Formation Rules and Electronic Structures of Rare Earth Compounds”, and he also won many other ministerial and provincial level science and technology awards. Professor Li co-authored graduate students textbooks such as "Quantum Chemistry - Fundamentals and Ab Initio Calculation" (I, II and III), “Quantum Chemistry - Fundamentals and Ab Initio Calculation Exercise Keys", and "Molecular Symmetry Group”, and the textbook “Quantum Chemistry - Fundamentals and Ab Initio Calculation” received favorable comments.
Professor Li Lemin is also the deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Division of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the director of the Academic Committee of the State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications, the director of the Academic Committee of the State Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, and the deputy director of the Computational Materials Science Branch of the China Materials Research Society. Besides, he is the executive associate editor of “Science China" (Series B: Chemistry), and the associate editor of "Chemical Journal of Chinese Universities", "Chinese Chemical Letters" and "Journal of Molecular Science”.
