Rare-earth complexes supported by bis(phenoxy-amidine) ligands and their catalytic activity _**Organometallics: Materials & Catalysis (**_[_OMC_](https://iscr.univ-rennes.fr/organometallics-materials-catalysis-omc)_**)**_ _team_ _**Abstract**_ The ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic esters is the method of choice for the controlled synthesis of biodegradable polyesters, and, from racemic monomers such as rac-lactones, allows the polymer tacticity and its physical properties to be controlled. Achieving high isoselectivity from racemic β-lactones nonetheless remains a major challenge, met by only a limited number of discrete metal catalysts. This thesis addresses it through an original ligand-design strategy: replacing the imine function of the classical salen ligand with a more robust N,N,N’-trisubstituted amidine, able to adopt variable coordination modes depending on the metal. This bis(phenoxy-amidine) FAlen ligand is studied for the coordination with rare-earth metals and for the use of the resulting complexes in catalysis. \[...\] [Read more](https://ged.univ-rennes1.fr/nuxeo/site/esupversions/0434c677-3131-447c-ad11-8126ae3ccd47) _**Jury**_ **Rhett Kempe**, Professor, University of Bayreuth / Reviewer **Tatiana Besset**, Director of Research CNRS, INSA Rouen Normandie / Reviewer **Pierre Le Gendre**, Professor, University of Bourgogne / Examiner **Evgueni Kirillov**, Associate Professor, University of Rennes, ISCR / PhD Director **Jean-François Carpentier**, Professor, University of Rennes, ISCR / PhD Co-Director _**Contacts**_ [Thanh Tu Bui](https://iscr.univ-rennes.fr/thanh-tu-bui), _[thanh-tu.bui@univ-rennes.fr](mailto:thanh-tu.bui@univ-rennes.fr)_ [Evgueni Kirillov](https://iscr.univ-rennes.fr/evgueni-kirillov), _[evgueni.kirillov@univ-rennes.fr](mailto:evgueni.kirillov@univ-rennes.fr)_ [Jean-François Carpentier](https://iscr.univ-rennes.fr/jean-francois-carpentier), _[jean-francois.carpentier@univ-rennes.fr](mailto:jean-francois.carpentier@univ-rennes.fr)_