Rate My Professor Nigel Lucas

Lucas's research focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of carbon-rich molecular materials, particularly those based on polyaromatic building blocks incorporating metals. His work examines intermolecular interactions in solution, solid states, liquid crystalline mesophases, and on surfaces to develop materials with tailored optical and electronic properties capable of self-organizing into ordered nanoscale structures. Key interests include supramolecular chemistry and self-assembly, organometallic chemistry and catalysis, materials for hydrogen storage, metal-containing liquid crystals, and crystallography, with expertise in X-ray crystallography. Notable publications include 'Suzuki–Miyaura cross-couplings of alkylboranes: Transmetalation studies and synthesis of model organopalladium pretransmetalation species' (ACS Catalysis, 2024), 'Exploring the excited states of a hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene-substituted dipyridophenazine ligand and its metal complexes' (Inorganic Chemistry, 2023), 'Rigid, biconical hydrogen-bonded dimers that strongly encapsulate cationic guests in solution and the solid state' (Chemical Science, 2021), 'Synthesis of arylpalladium(II) boronates: Confirming the structure of pre-transmetalation intermediates in the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction crystallographically' (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2021), and 'Superphenylphosphines: Nanographene-based ligands that control coordination geometry and drive supramolecular assembly' (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2018). He delivered his Inaugural Professorial Lecture in 2025.