Zhejiang University is among the higher education universities that first set up the discipline of Chemistry in China. Initially established in 1915, the discipline of Chemistry of Zhejiang University had a group of outstanding scholars studied and worked here, including 25 members of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, namely, Ju Yufeng, Wang Baoren, Wu Zhengkai, Wang Xu, Lu Jiaxi, Wang You, Qian Zhidao, Xu Guangxian, Qian Renyuan, Wu Haoqing, Feng Xinde, Yang Fuyu, Shen Jiacong, Lu Xiyan, Dai Lixin, Xie Xuejin, Lin Liwu, Shen Zhiquan, Xu Cheng'en, Chen Yaozu, Cao Chunan, Fang Zhaolun, Huang Xian, Xu Ruren and Ma Shengming. In 2007, it was approved by the Ministry of Education as one of the first primary national key disciplines.

At present, there are 2 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 awardee of the National 1000-elite Program, 3 distinguished professors of Chang Jiang Scholar Program and 3 awardees of the National Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scientists in this discipline. The discipline of chemistry holds the Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Chemistry. Among higher education institutes in China, it is the only discipline of chemistry that owns both the National Base for Training of Research and Teaching Talents in Basic Science and the National Teaching Base for Basic Courses of Engineering. It has two national quality courses, namely, organic chemistry and comprehensive chemistry experiments. The ExperimentalChemistryTeachingCenter is one of the first experimental teaching demonstration centers at national level, and the teaching team of Fundamental Courses of Chemistry is one of the first teaching teams at national level.

There are mainly five research fields in this discipline, namely, synthetic chemistry & molecular construction, advanced functional material chemistry, theonetical and cumputational chemistry, catalysis and green chemistry, instrumental analysis and technology. Doctors trained by this discipline have become professional technicians of various companies and institutes, and more than 100 of them have become professors or researchers of various universities and scientific research institutes, making great contributions to the nation. Since 2005, it has been undertaking various programs at national level. There have been more than 120 programs from National Natural Science Foundation, 863 Program (National High-tech R&D Program) and sub-programs of 973 Program (National Basic Research Program), and over 300 programs of provincial and ministerial level and enterprise entrusted researches. The annual average number of publications in this discipline and indexed by SCI reaches 400. The quality of published papers is being improved year by year. Especially in 2009, the number of papers with impact factor above 3 exceeded 100 for the first time. 200 patents have been applied with nearly 100 granted. In the past years, it has obtained various honors and awards such as 1 National Natural Science Award, 1 National Invention Award, 3 National Prizes for Progress in Science and Technology, 4 National Prizes for Outstanding Teaching Achievements, and 2 nominations of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation.