Brian K. Long

Associate Professor

Research

Research efforts in the Long Group are highly interdisciplinary and utilize the tools of organic synthesis, polymer chemistry, organometallic design, and even polymer science and engineering to address fundamental problems with real world impact. Our research is divided into two main thrusts: (1) the design and synthesis of functional polymeric materials, and (2) the development and utilization of next-generation polymerization catalysts. To find out more about each of these thrusts and current projects within the Long Research Group, please click on the “Group Website” link to the right.

Biography

Brian (BL) studied chemistry as an undergraduate at North Georgia College & State University (now UNG) and completed his B.S. degree in 2003. During his undergraduate career, he conducted research under the guidance of Prof. Dan Thompson at UNG, and as a participant in Furman University's NSF-REU program where he worked in the research groups of Profs. John Wheeler and Noel A. P. Kane-Maguire. BL began his doctoral research at the University of Texas at Austin where he worked under the guidance of Prof. C. Grant Willson and was co-advised by Prof. Christopher W. Bielawski. After receiving his Ph.D. in 2009, BL pursued his postdoctoral studies at Cornell University under the supervision of Prof. Geoffrey W. Coates. BL then returned to the southeast as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee - Knoxville (UTK) in 2011, and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure in 2018. His research and teaching efforts have been recognized through the Ffrancon Williams Endowed Faculty Award, an Army Research Office Young Investigator Award, a Department of Energy Early Career Research Program Award, and he was recently named the Gleb Mamantov Associate Professor of Chemistry in 2020.

Education

B.S., North Georgia College & State University (2003)
Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin (2009)
Postdoc, Cornell University (2009-2011)

Awards and Recognitions

Gleb Mamantov Associate Professor of Chemistry (2020)
Department of Energy, Early Career Research Program Award (2017)
Ffrancon Williams Endowed Faculty Award (2015-2019)
Army Research Office Young Investigator Award (2014)
UT Summer Pre-college Service Award (2014, 2015)
ACS POLY Division Graduate Travel Award (2008)
Presidential Honors Scholar (North Georgia College & State University) (2003)

Publications

Selected Publications:

O’Connell, C.E.; Sabury, S.; Jenkins, J.E.; Collier, G.S.; Sumpter, B.G.; Long, B.K.; Kilbey II, S.M. “Highly Fluorescent Purine-Containing Conjugated Copolymers with Tailored Optoelectronic Properties” Polym. Chem. 2022, just accepted.

Wang, X.^‡; Wilson, T. J. ^‡; Maroon, C.R.; Laub, J.A.; Rheingold, S.E.; Vogiatzis, K.D.; Long, B. K.  “Vinyl-Addition Fluoroalkoxysilyl-Substituted Polynorbornene Membranes for CO₂/CH₄ Separation” ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2022,articles ASAP. DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.1c01833

Doerr, A.M.; Curry, M.R.; Chapleski, R.C.; Burroughs, J.M.; Lander, E.K.; Roy, S.; Long, B. K.  “Redox Potential as a Predictor of Polyethylene Branching Using Nickel α-Diimine Catalysts” ACS Catalysis 2022,12, 73. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.1c03646

Wang, X.; Jeong, Y. L.; Love, C.; Stretz, H.; Stein, G.E.; Long, B. K.  “Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of Vinyl-addition Polynorbornenes with Tunable Thermal Properties” Polym. Chem. 2021, 12, 5831. DOI: 10.1039/D1PY01050F

Brady, N. G.; Workman, C. E.; Cawthon, B.; Bruce, B. D.; Long, B. K.  “Protein Extraction Efficiency and Selectivity of Esterified Styrene–Maleic Acid Copolymers in Thylakoid Membranes” Biomacromolecules 2021,22, 2544. DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.1c00274

Wang, X.^‡; Wilson, T. J.^‡; Alentiev, D.; Gringolts, M.; Finkelshtein, E.; Bermeshev, M.; Long, B. K.  “Substituted polynorbornene membranes: a modular template for targeted gas separations” Polym. Chem. 2021,12, 2947. DOI: 10.1039/D1PY00278C

Koby, R. F.; Doerr, A. M.; Rightmire, N. R.; Schley, N. D.; Brennessel, W. W.; Long, B. K.; Hanusa, T.  P.  “Mechanochemical Formation, Solution Rearrangements, and Catalytic Behavior of a Polymorphic Ca/K Allyl Complex” Chem. Eur. J. 2021,27, 8195. DOI: 10.1002/chem.202100589

Doerr, A. M.^‡; Burroughs, J. M.^‡; Gitter, S. R.^‡; Yang, X.^‡; Boydston, A. J.; Long, B. K. “Advances in Polymerizations Modulated by External Stimuli” ACS Catalysis 2020, 10, 14457. *denotes equal contribution. DOI: ​10.1021/acscatal.0c03802

Galan, N.*; Burroughs, J. M.*; Long, B. K.; Brantley, J. “Vinyl-Addition Polymerizations of Cycloallenes: Synthetic Access to Congeners of Cyclic-Olefin Polymers” Polym. Chem. 2020,11, 5578. *denotes equal contribution. DOI: ​10.1039/D0PY01018A

Lawrence, J. A.; Harrigan, D. J.; Maroon, C. R.; Sharber, S. A.; Long, B. K.; Sundell, B. J. “Promoting acid gas separations via strategic alkoxysilyl substitution of vinyl-added poly(norbornene)s” J. Membrane Sci. 2020,616, 118569. DOI: ​10.1016/j.memsci.2020.118569

Doerr, A. M.; Burroughs, J. M.; Legaux, N. M.; Long, B. K. “Redox-Switchable Ring-Opening Polymerization by Tridentate ONN-Type Titanium and Zirconium Catalysts” Cat. Sci. & Tech. 2020, 10, 6501. DOI: ​10.1039/D0CY00642D

Higgins, M. A.; Maroon, C. R.; Townsend, J.; Wang, X.; Vogiatzis, K. D.; Long, B. K. “Evaluating the impact of functional groups on membrane-mediated CO₂/N₂gas separations using a common polymer backbone” J. Poly. Sci. 2020, 58, 2644. DOI: ​10.1002/pol.20200150

Koby, R. F.; Doerr, A. M.; Rightmire, N. R.; Schley, N. D.; Long, B. K.; Hanusa, T. P. “An η³-Bound Allyl Ligand on Magnesium in a Mechanochemically Generated Mg/K Allyl Complex” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020,59, 2. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201916410​

Chapleski Jr., R. C.; Kern, J. L.; Anderson Jr., W. C.,; Long, B. K.; Roy, S. “A Mechanistic Study of Microstructure Modulation in Olefin Polymerizations using a Redox-Active Ni(II) α-Diimine Catalyst” Cat. Sci. & Tech. 2020, 10, 2029. DOI: 10.1039/C9CY02538C​

Maroon, C. R.; Townsend, J.; Higgins, M. A.; Harrigan, D. J.; Sundell, B. J.; Lawrence, J. A.; O'Brien, J. T.; O'Neal, D.; Vogiatzis, K. D.; Long, B. K.“Addition-type Alkoxysilyl-Substituted Polynorbornenes for Post-Combustion Carbon Dioxide Separations” J. Membrane Sci. 2020, 595, 117532.  DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2019.117532​

Hendren, K. D.; Higgins, M. A.; Long, B. K.; Foster, E. J. “Cellulose Nanocrystal-Reinforced Poly(5-triethoxysilyl-2-norbornene) Composites” Polym. Chem., 2020, 11, 433. DOI: 10.1039/C9PY00963A

Lee, D. C.; Kensy, V. K.; Maroon, C. R.; Long, B. K.; Boydston, A.J. “The intrinsic mechanochemical reactivity of vinyl-addition polynorbornene” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 5639-5642. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201900467

Maroon, C. R.; Townsend, J.; Gmernicki, K. R.; Harrigan, D. J.; Sundell, B. J.; Lawrence, J. A.; Mahurin, S. M.; Vogiatzis, K. D.; Long, B. K. “Elimination of CO2/N2 Langmuir Sorption and Promotion of “N2‑Phobicity” within High‑Tg Glassy Membranes” Macromolecules 2019, 52, 1589-1600. DOI:10.1021/acs.macromol.8b02497

Kaiser, J. M.; Long, B. K. “Polar Comonomer Incorporation using Cationic Ni α-Diimine Olefin Polymerization Catalysts” Science China Chemistry 2019, 62, 153-154. DOI:10.1007/s11426-018-9372-2

Mitchell, N. E.; Long, B. K. “Recent Advances in Thermally Robust, Late Transition Metal Catalyzed Olefin Polymerization” Poly. International 2019, 68, 14-26. DOI: 10.1002/pi.5694

Moyer, P; Kim, K.; Abdoulmoumine, N.; Chmely, S. C.; Long, B. K.; Carrier, D. J.; Labbé, N. “Structural changes in lignocellulosic biomass during activation with ionic liquids comprising 3-methylimidazolium cations and carboxylate anions” Biotechnology for Biofuels 2018, 11, 265. DOI: 10.1186/s13068-018-1263-0

Kaiser, J. M.; Long, B. K. “Recent developments in redox-active olefin polymerization catalysts” Coord. Chem. Rev. 2018, 372, 141-152. DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2018.06.007

Hong, T.; Lai, S.; Mahurin, S. M.; Cao, P-F.; Voylov, D. N.; Meyer, H. M.; Jacobs, C. B.; Carillo, J-M. Y.; Kisliuk, A.; Ivanov, I.; Jiang, D-E.; Long, B. K.; Mays, J. W.; Sokolov, A. P.; Saito, T. “Highly-permeable Oligo (ethylene oxide)-co-Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Membranes for Carbon Dioxide Separation” Adv. Sustainable Sys. 2018, 2, 1700113. DOI: 10.1002/adsu.201700113

Brown, L. A.; Anderson Jr., W. C., Mitchell, N. A.; Gmernicki, K. R.; Long, B. K. “High Temperature, Living Polymerization of Ethylene by a Sterically-Demanding Nickel(II) -Diimine Catalyst” Polymers, 2018, 10, 41. DOI: 10.3390/polym10010041

Kaiser, J. M.; Anderson Jr., W. C., Long, B. K. “Photochemical regulation of a redox-active olefin polymerization catalyst: controlling polyethylene microstructure with visible light” Polymer Cemistry, 2018, 9, 1567-1570. DOI: 10.1039/C7PY01836C

Additional Information

Lab Address: 458/459/340 Buehler Hall

Office: 420 Buehler Hall