Our research focuses on the development of new routes to multifunctional and polymeric Lewis acids for applications in catalysis and materials chemistry. The following are some recent review articles on our work and on organoborane chemistry in general:

(1) F. Jäkle, Chapter in Encyclopedia of Inorganic Chemistry, Ed. B. King, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2005; "Boron: Organoboranes".

(2) F. Jäkle, J. Inorg. Organomet. Polym. Mater. (invited review) 2005, 15, 293-307; "Borylated Polyolefins and their Applications".

(3) F. Jäkle, Coord. Chem. Rev. (invited review) 2006, 250, 1107-1121; "Lewis-Acidic Boron Polymers".

(4) F. Jäkle, Dalton Trans. (invited perspective) 2007, 2851-2858; "Pentafluorophenyl copper: aggregation and complexation phenomena, photoluminescence properties, and applications as reagent in organometallic synthesis".

We engage in research in the following specific areas:

• Project A: We develop new controlled polymerization routes to Lewis acid functionalized polyolefins, in which boron groups are attached at well-defined positions. We pursue applications of these polymers as supported Lewis acid catalysts and as precursor to luminescent materials.

• Project B: We study electronically interesting conjugated polymers, in which Lewis acid (LA) centers are attached to or embedded into the pi-conjugated polymer main chain as sensor and optoelectronic device materials.

• Project C: We pursue new methods for the preparation of ferrocene-based planar chiral Lewis acids and study their reactivity, binding behavior, redox properties, and applications in Lewis acid catalysis.

• Project D: We explore the chemistry of pentafluorophenyl copper including the formation of luminescent supramolecular structures through cuprophilic and pi-stacking interactions upon complexation with nucleophiles. In yet another application pentafluorophenyl copper is used as a highly selective aryl transfer reagent for the preparation of perfluoroarylboranes.