Lucas Freeman, Ph.D.

Technology Specialist - Boston

Contact Information


Dr. Lucas Freeman is a technology specialist with a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry. His technical expertise spans the s-, d- and p-blocks of the periodic table, with scholarly contributions in the fields of materials science, small-molecule synthesis, carbon dioxide reduction, hydrogen storage, and others.

Prior to joining Foley Hoag, Lucas earned his Ph.D. at the University of Virginia in the laboratory of Prof. Robert Gilliard, Jr., authoring 12+ peer-reviewed publications along the way. His dissertation work focused on the organometallic chemistry of s-block elements supported by carbene ligands, with direct applications to energy-relevant redox processes and solid-state hydrogen storage. Lucas' undergraduate work at the College of Charleston was primarily focused on understanding the physical chemistry of organic polymers used in organic photovoltaic materials.

Education:

  • University of Virginia, Ph.D., 2021
  • College of Charleston, B.S., cum laude, 2017

Languages:

English

  • Freeman, L. A.; Obi, A. D.; Machost, H. R.; Molino, A.; Nichols, A. W. Dickie, D. A.; Wilson, D. J.; Machan, C. W.; and Gilliard, R. J., Jr. Chem. Sci. 2021, 12, 3544-3550. Highlighted in ACS’s Chemical & Engineering News (https://cen.acs.org/materials/inorganic-chemistry/Abundant-ingredients-make-CO2-reduction/98/i29); Part of the themed collection: Celebrating 10 years of Chemical Science.
  • Wentz, K. E.; Molino, A.; Freeman, L. A.; Dickie, D. A.; Wilson, D.; Gilliard, Jr., R. J., Reactions of the 9-Carbene-9-borafluorene Monoanion and Selenium: Synthesis of Boryl-Substituted Selenides and Diselenides. Inorg. Chem. 2021, 60, 13941–13949. Selected for ACS Editors’ Choice.
  • Obi, A. D.;  Freeman, L. A.;  Dickie, D. A.; Gilliard, Jr., R. J., N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Mediated Ring Opening of Reduced Diazamagnesacycles. Organometallics 2020, 39, 4575-4583.
  • Yang, W.; Krantz, K. E.; Freeman, L. A.; Dickie, D. A.; Molino, A.; Frenking, G.; Pan, S.; Wilson, D. J. D.; Gilliard Jr., R. J., Persistent Borafluorene Radicals. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 3850-3854.
  • Freeman, L. A.; Walley, J. E.; Dickie D. A.; Gilliard, R. J.; Low-nuclearity magnesium hydride complexes stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbenes. Dalton Trans., 2019, 48, 17174-17178.
  • Freeman, L. A.; Walley, J. E.; Obi, A. D.; Wang, G.; Dickie, D. A.; Molino, A.; Wilson, D. J. D.; Gilliard, Jr. R. J. Stepwise Reduction at Magnesium and Beryllium: Cooperative Effects of Carbenes with Redox Non-Innocent α-Diimines. Inorg. Chem. 2019. 58, 10554-10568. –Forum Article as part of Special Issue: Celebrating the Year of the Periodic Table: Emerging Investigators in Inorganic Chemistry.
  • Lieske, L. E.;* Freeman, L. A.;* Wang, G.; Dickie, D. A.; Gilliard, Jr., R. J.; Machan, C. W., Metal-Free Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Mediated by Cyclic(Alkyl)(Amino) Carbenes. Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 6098-6101. *Equal Contribution
  • Walley, J. E.; Wong, Y.-O.; Freeman, L. A.; Dickie, D. A.; Gilliard, Jr., R. J., N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Supported Aryl- and Alk- oxides of Beryllium and Magnesium. Catalysts 2019, 9, 934.
  • Yang, W., Krantz, K., Freeman, L. A., Dickie, D. A.; Molino, A.; Kaur, A.; Wilson, D. S.; Gilliard, R. J., Jr. Stable Borepinium and Borafluorenium Heterocycles: A Reversible Thermochromic “Switch” Based on Boron‐Oxygen Interactions. Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 12512–12516. Hot Paper.
  • Wang, G.; Freeman, L. A.; Dickie, D. A.; Mokrai, R.; Benkő, Z.; Gilliard Jr, R. J., Isolation of Cyclic(Alkyl)(Amino) Carbene–Bismuthinidene Mediated by a Beryllium(0) Complex. Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 4335-4339. Highlighted in Chemistry Views Magazine.
  • Wong, Y. O.; Freeman, L. A.; Agakidou, A. D.; Dickie, D. A.; Webster, C. E.; Gilliard, R. J., Two Carbenes versus One in Magnesium Chemistry: Synthesis of Terminal Dihalide, Dialkyl, and Grignard Reagents. Organometallics 2019, 38, 688-696.
  • Freeman, L.; Miller, P.; Sapolsky, M.; Boucher, D., p-Doping Poly(3-hexylthiophene) in Solvent Mixtures. Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics 2018, 1800146.
  • Wang, G.; Freeman, L. A.; Dickie, D. A.; Mokrai, R.; Benkő, Z.; Gilliard, R. J., Highly Reactive Cyclic(alkyl)(amino) Carbene- and N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Bismuth(III) Complexes: Synthesis, Structure, and Computations. Inorganic Chemistry 2018, 57, 11687–11695.

Honors

  • UVA: Honorable Mention–Link Foundation Energy Fellowship, 2020
  • Advancement to Ph.D. Candidacy with Distinction (highest grade in UVA’s Ph.D. candidacy exam), 2019
  • Mary Anderson Harrison Jefferson Fellowship–Jefferson Scholars Foundation, 2019
  • Honorable Mention–NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, 2019
  • CofC: Departmental Honors, 2017
  • Cum Laude Latin Honors, 2017
  • President’s List Spring, 2017
  • Major Fields Test Award, 2017
  • NSF REU participant 2019
  • AIC Student Award in Chemistry, 2017
  • Presidential Scholarship 2013-2017
  • SC LIFE Scholarship, 2013-2017

Involvement

  • American Chemical Society 2015-Present
  • Room Temperature Alkali Metal Reduction of Carbon Dioxide. Zoom Main Group Symposium (Hosted by Prof. Alex Spokoyny, UCLA). United States. August 27-28, 2020.
  • Cyclic (Alkyl)(Amino)Carbene-Assisted Reduction of Carbon Dioxide: Crystalline Alkali Metal Clusters of Supported CO2 Radical Anions and Dianions. Main Group Chemistry Seminars Online (Hosted by Royal Society of Chemistry Interest Group – Main Group Chemistry). United Kingdom. April 22 – July 1, 2020.
  • Novel Synthetic Strategies Towards the Isolation of Main Group Metal Hydrides. 257th ACS National Meeting & Exposition, Orlando, FL, United States, March 31-April 4, 2019. final paper number: INOR 960, Paper ID: 3113923
  • Mechanistic study of iron catalyzed Kumada coupling reactions. 68th Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Columbia, SC, United States, October 23-26, 2016.
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