Chapter 8
Lewis Acid−Base Pairs
for Polymerization Catalysis: Recent
Progress and Perspectives
Miao Hong
Abstract Lewis pair polymerization (LPP), catalyzed by frustrated Lewis pairs
(FLPs), interacting LPs (ILPs), or classical Lewis adducts (CLAs), has become
a very powerful tool for efficient, controlled, and selective polymerizations of
heteroatom-containing polar monomers since its inception in 2010. The unique cooperative/synergetic monomer activation by both Lewis acid (LA) and Lewis base (LB)
sites of LP catalysts not only gives this new polymerization methodology a high visibility from the beginning, but also brings about a variety of novel polymeric materials that cannot be efficiently realized by traditional polymerization techniques. This
chapter highlights the very recent progress made in this rapidly expanding field since
the last comprehensive review in 2018, with a special emphasis on the LP-mediated
polymerization of polar vinyl monomers and ring-opening (co)polymerization of
cyclic esters and epoxides.
Keywords Lewis pair polymerization · Frustrated Lewis pair · Classical Lewis
adduct · Ring-opening polymerization · Polar vinyl monomer
Abbreviations
β-AL
β-angelica lactone (Scheme 8.12)
AGE
Allyl glycidyl ether (Scheme 8.15)
AMA
Allyl methacrylate (Scheme 8.1)
BDM
1,4-benzenedimethanol (Scheme 8.16)
BHT
Butylated hydroxytoluene
BO
1,2-Butylene oxide (Scheme 8.15)
n BA
n-Butyl acrylate (Scheme 8.8)
t BA
tert-Butyl acrylate (Scheme 8.8)
Conv.%
Conversion
M. Hong (B)
State Key Laboratory of Organometallic Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis,
Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
e-mail: miaohong@sioc.ac.cn
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Chris Slootweg and A. R. Jupp (eds.), Frustrated Lewis Pairs,
Molecular Catalysis 2, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58888-5_8
283
Lewis Acid−Base Pairs
for Polymerization Catalysis: Recent
Progress and Perspectives
Miao Hong
Abstract Lewis pair polymerization (LPP), catalyzed by frustrated Lewis pairs
(FLPs), interacting LPs (ILPs), or classical Lewis adducts (CLAs), has become
a very powerful tool for efficient, controlled, and selective polymerizations of
heteroatom-containing polar monomers since its inception in 2010. The unique cooperative/synergetic monomer activation by both Lewis acid (LA) and Lewis base (LB)
sites of LP catalysts not only gives this new polymerization methodology a high visibility from the beginning, but also brings about a variety of novel polymeric materials that cannot be efficiently realized by traditional polymerization techniques. This
chapter highlights the very recent progress made in this rapidly expanding field since
the last comprehensive review in 2018, with a special emphasis on the LP-mediated
polymerization of polar vinyl monomers and ring-opening (co)polymerization of
cyclic esters and epoxides.
Keywords Lewis pair polymerization · Frustrated Lewis pair · Classical Lewis
adduct · Ring-opening polymerization · Polar vinyl monomer
Abbreviations
β-AL
β-angelica lactone (Scheme 8.12)
AGE
Allyl glycidyl ether (Scheme 8.15)
AMA
Allyl methacrylate (Scheme 8.1)
BDM
1,4-benzenedimethanol (Scheme 8.16)
BHT
Butylated hydroxytoluene
BO
1,2-Butylene oxide (Scheme 8.15)
n BA
n-Butyl acrylate (Scheme 8.8)
t BA
tert-Butyl acrylate (Scheme 8.8)
Conv.%
Conversion
M. Hong (B)
State Key Laboratory of Organometallic Chemistry, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis,
Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
e-mail: miaohong@sioc.ac.cn
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Chris Slootweg and A. R. Jupp (eds.), Frustrated Lewis Pairs,
Molecular Catalysis 2, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58888-5_8
283