Lucia Caporaso

Lucia Caporaso


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

32Years (1995-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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22 May 2012 in Dalton Transactions
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Journal Article
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YZYuetao Zhang
Yuetao Zhang
GMGarret M. Miyake
Garret M. Miyake
MJMallory G. John
Mallory G. John
LFLaura Falivene
Laura Falivene
LCLucia Caporaso
Lucia Caporaso
ECEugene Chen
Eugene Chen
Classical and frustrated Lewis pairs (LPs) of the strong Lewis acid (LA) Al(C6F5)3 with several Lewis base (LB) classes have been found to exhibit exceptional activity in the Lewis pair polymerization (LPP) of conjugated polar alkenes such as methyl methacrylate (MMA) as well as renewable α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone (MBL) and γ-methyl-α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone (γ-MMBL), leading to high molecular weight polymers, often with narrow molecular weight distributions. This study has investigated a large number of LPs, consisting of 11 LAs as well as 10 achiral and 4 chiral LBs, for LPP of 12 monomers of several different types. Although some more common LAs can also be utilized for LPP, Al(C6F5)3-based LPs are far more active and effective than other LA-based LPs. On the other hand, several classes of LBs, when paired with Al(C6F5)3, can render highly active and effective LPP of MMA and γ-MMBL; such LBs include phosphines (e.g., PtBu3), chiral chelating diphosphines, N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), and phosphazene superbases (e.g., P4-tBu). The P4-tBu/Al(C6F5)3 pair exhibits the highest activity of the LP series, with a remarkably high turn-over frequency of 9.6 × 104 h−1 (0.125 mol% catalyst, 100% MMA conversion in 30 s, Mn = 2.12 × 105 g mol−1, PDI = 1.34). The polymers produced by LPs at RT are typically atactic (PγMMBL with ∼47% mr) or syndio-rich (PMMA with ∼70–75% rr), but highly syndiotactic PMMA with rr ∼91% can be produced by chiral or achiral LPs at −78 °C. Mechanistic studies have identified and structurally characterized zwitterionic phosphonium and imidazolium enolaluminates as the active species of the current LPP system, which are formed by the reaction of the monomer·Al(C6F5)3 adduct with PtBu3 and NHC bases, respectively. Kinetic studies have revealed that the MMA polymerization by the tBu3P/Al(C6F5)3 pair is zero-order in monomer concentration after an initial induction period, and the polymerization is significantly catalyzed by the LA, thus pointing to a bimetallic, activated monomer propagation mechanism. Computational study on the active species formation as well as the chain initiation and propagation events involved in the LPP of MMA with some of the most representative LPs has added our understanding of fundamental steps of LPP. The main difference between NHC and PR3 bases is in the energetics of zwitterion formation, with the NHC-based zwitterions being remarkably more stable than the PR3-based zwitterions. Comparison of the monometallic and bimetallic mechanisms for MMA addition shows a clear preference for the bimetallic mechanism.

19 October 2016 in Journal of the American Chemical Society
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Journal Article
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XTXiaoyan Tang
Xiaoyan Tang
MHMiao Hong
Miao Hong
LFLaura Falivene
Laura Falivene
LCLucia Caporaso
Lucia Caporaso
LCLuigi Cavallo
Luigi Cavallo
ECEugene Chen
Eugene Chen

15 April 2016 in Journal of the American Chemical Society
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Journal Article
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JCJiawei Chen
Jiawei Chen
LFLaura Falivene
Laura Falivene
LCLucia Caporaso
Lucia Caporaso
LCLuigi Cavallo
Luigi Cavallo
ECEugene Y.-X. Chen
Eugene Y.-X. Chen

16 October 2012 in Journal of the American Chemical Society
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Journal Article
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PRPhilipp Roesle
Philipp Roesle
CDChristoph J. Dürr
Christoph J. Dürr
HMHeiko M. Möller
Heiko M. Möller
LCLuigi Cavallo
Luigi Cavallo
LCLucia Caporaso
Lucia Caporaso
SMStefan Mecking
Stefan Mecking

21 November 2014 in Journal of the American Chemical Society
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Journal Article
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PRPhilipp Roesle
Philipp Roesle
LCLucia Caporaso
Lucia Caporaso
MSManuel Schnitte
Manuel Schnitte
VGVerena Goldbach
Verena Goldbach
LCLuigi Cavallo
Luigi Cavallo
SMStefan Mecking
Stefan Mecking

23 January 2018 in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
LFLaura Falivene
Laura Falivene
TWThomas Wiedemann
Thomas Wiedemann
IGInigo Göttker-Schnetmann
Inigo Göttker-Schnetmann
LCLucia Caporaso
Lucia Caporaso
LCLuigi Cavallo
Luigi Cavallo
SMStefan Mecking
Stefan Mecking