At 10:30 on May 15, 2024, Professor Zhang Yuetao from Jilin University, at the invitation of Professor Huang Hui, came to the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences to give a lecture on the theme of "Blocking Lewis acid-base pairs to achieve accurate synthesis of polymers". The lecture was held in Room 215 on the first floor of the classroom.

Precise synthesis of polymers can control the structure and properties of polymers, which has been the focus of research in the field of polymer synthesis. The hindered Lewis acid-base pair (FLP) system has both Lewis acidity and base which are not quenched by each other. The synergistic effect of Lewis acid-base can not only achieve active polymerization, but also overcome the problems existing in traditional active polymerization methods.

In this report, a new FLP system was designed and synthesized, which improved the initiation efficiency of polymerization and inhibited the side reaction of chain bite, and for the first time realized the activity-controlled polymerization of various polar vinyl monomers catalyzed by FLP. By using FLP system with high polymerization activity and good stability, the rapid synthesis of ultra-high molecular weight polymers at room temperature and a large number of 63-block sequence controllable polymers have been achieved. The topological structure of the polymer is controlled by the flexible tunable structure of the system. The three-block thermoplastic elastomer is synthesized in one step by the topological polymerization from the middle to the two sides using the double-initiated phosphine base system. A new method for synthesis of cyclic polymers was developed using bimolecular synergistic effect of FLP system with three functions. The hindered Lewis acid-base active polymerization system has high activity, good stability and flexible structure adjustability, which is a new kind of active polymerization system with great development potential. Professor Zhang Yuetao exchanged and discussed with the on-site teachers and students, and got a warm response from the on-site teachers and students.

Zhang Yuetao, male, received his doctorate of Science in Organic Chemistry from the School of Chemistry, Jilin University in 2004 and worked there in the same year. In 2006, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Eugene Y-X. Chen's research group at Colorado State University. In 2009, he worked as a research scientist II in the Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University. In 2013, he was selected into the fourth batch of national "Overseas High-level Talent Introduction Program Youth Project", and was employed as a professor and doctoral supervisor of Jilin University. In 2014, he was awarded the "Outstanding Youth Science Fund" by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. In 2022, he won the "National Science Fund for Outstanding Young People". He is currently engaged in the research of polymer synthetic chemistry, focusing on the precise synthesis of polymers catalyzed by Lewis acid-base pairs; Catalytic synthesis of polymers based on renewable resources (catalytic synthesis of sustainable polymers); Research on the degradation of non-food biomass into high value-added chemicals or biomass energy. A series of important research results have been obtained. Now available in Nature Chemistry, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Nature Communications, CCS Chemistry, Journals such as Chemical Science have published more than 80 SCI indexed papers and obtained 17 Chinese invention patents. He is currently on the Young editorial board of the journal Science Bulletin.