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Preface – Bennett Special Issue
Polyhedron 120 (2016) 1–2
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Polyhedron journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/poly
Editorial
Preface – Bennett Special Issue
We are pleased and honored to present this 2016 Special Issue of Polyhedron dedicated to Professor Martin Bennett (BSc, PhD, DIC, DSc London, FRS, FRSC, FRACI, FAA). After his formal retirement, Martin has enjoyed the benefit of two scientific ‘‘homes” – The Australian National University in Canberra, and as an Adjunct Professor at the Centre of Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC), RMIT University in Melbourne. This issue, together with an honorary International Symposium on Molecular Design (organized by Prof. Bhargava and Dr. Mirzahttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.poly.2016.11.002 0277-5387/Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
deh) held at RMIT University on November 16, 2015, marks the 80th birthday of Professor Bennett. The symposium, which was an intimate gathering of Martin’s friends, colleagues and scientific peers, honored his lifetime achievements and saw the introduction of two new awards at RMIT University. The Bennett Research Excellence Award in Inorganic. Chemistry (to be funded by Professor Bhargava), to be presented to the most outstanding PhD candidate or Early Career Researcher in the School of Applied Sciences and a second award for RMIT-India research collaborations (to be funded by Professor Bennett), to be awarded to a researcher who works at IICT (CSIR) India and RMIT joint research Centre. Professor Bennett completed his PhD under the supervision of Professor Geoffrey Wilkinson and Professor Edward W. Abel in 1960 at Imperial College London. He then took up Postdoctoral positions, first at the University of Southern California (1960) with Professor Arthur W. Adamson, then at University College London (UCL) (1961–1963) with Professor Ronald Nyholm, where he developed the coordination chemistry of olefinic tertiary phosphines and arsines. After a period as lecturer at UCL, Martin migrated from England to Australia in 1967 to take up a position at the Australian National University, Canberra, where he rose through the ranks to become a Professor in 1991. During his career, Martin has undertaken numerous professional and visiting fellowships around the world, including Canada, Germany, USA, New Zealand, PR China, Taiwan and Japan. Among his many accolades, Martin is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (1980), Fellow of the Royal Society of London (1995) and a Corresponding Member of the Bavarian Academy of Science (2005). He was also elected Member of the International Advisory Board for the Dictionary of Organometallic Compounds (1984) and Member of the International Advisory Board for the Dictionary of Inorganic Compounds (1988). Martin is a recipient of the prestigious H. G. Smith Medal by The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (1977), the Royal Society of Chemistry Award for Chemistry and Electrochemistry of Transition Metals (1984), the G. J. Burrows Award from The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (1987), the Nyholm Medal and Lectureship by The Royal Society of Chemistry (1991) and The Max Planck Society Research Award (1994, jointly with Professor Helmut Werner, University of Würzburg). Martin has contributed immensely to the development of organometallic chemistry and his work (more than 280 journal articles and reviews) has been published in various prestigious journals, including the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie, Organometallics, Inorganic Chemistry, Chemical Communications and Dalton Transactions.
2
Editorial / Polyhedron 120 (2016) 1–2
Martin’s PhD work included the first reported syntheses of (cycloheptatriene)Mo(CO)3 and of (chelating diene)RuCl2 complexes, which have become standard precursors in organo-transition metal chemistry. Martin made early contributions to the chemistry of RhCl(PPh3)3 and especially to that of its iridium analogue, which readily cyclometallates to the hydrido-complex [IrHCl (2-C6H4PPh2)(PPh3)2]. His group in Canberra was the first to prepare the much used (p-cymene) ruthenium dichloride dimer, sub-
sequently extending this work to other (arene)Ru(II) and (arene)Ru (0) complexes, which now play an important role both in coordination and in catalytic chemistry. His research included extensive studies on the organometallic chemistry of highly-strained smallring alkynes, including the elusive benzyne itself. Being part of Professor Bennett’s research family, we dedicate this special issue to Martin for his outstanding ongoing contribution to chemistry and his generous mentorship.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Polyhedron journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/poly
Editorial
Preface – Bennett Special Issue
We are pleased and honored to present this 2016 Special Issue of Polyhedron dedicated to Professor Martin Bennett (BSc, PhD, DIC, DSc London, FRS, FRSC, FRACI, FAA). After his formal retirement, Martin has enjoyed the benefit of two scientific ‘‘homes” – The Australian National University in Canberra, and as an Adjunct Professor at the Centre of Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC), RMIT University in Melbourne. This issue, together with an honorary International Symposium on Molecular Design (organized by Prof. Bhargava and Dr. Mirzahttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.poly.2016.11.002 0277-5387/Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
deh) held at RMIT University on November 16, 2015, marks the 80th birthday of Professor Bennett. The symposium, which was an intimate gathering of Martin’s friends, colleagues and scientific peers, honored his lifetime achievements and saw the introduction of two new awards at RMIT University. The Bennett Research Excellence Award in Inorganic. Chemistry (to be funded by Professor Bhargava), to be presented to the most outstanding PhD candidate or Early Career Researcher in the School of Applied Sciences and a second award for RMIT-India research collaborations (to be funded by Professor Bennett), to be awarded to a researcher who works at IICT (CSIR) India and RMIT joint research Centre. Professor Bennett completed his PhD under the supervision of Professor Geoffrey Wilkinson and Professor Edward W. Abel in 1960 at Imperial College London. He then took up Postdoctoral positions, first at the University of Southern California (1960) with Professor Arthur W. Adamson, then at University College London (UCL) (1961–1963) with Professor Ronald Nyholm, where he developed the coordination chemistry of olefinic tertiary phosphines and arsines. After a period as lecturer at UCL, Martin migrated from England to Australia in 1967 to take up a position at the Australian National University, Canberra, where he rose through the ranks to become a Professor in 1991. During his career, Martin has undertaken numerous professional and visiting fellowships around the world, including Canada, Germany, USA, New Zealand, PR China, Taiwan and Japan. Among his many accolades, Martin is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (1980), Fellow of the Royal Society of London (1995) and a Corresponding Member of the Bavarian Academy of Science (2005). He was also elected Member of the International Advisory Board for the Dictionary of Organometallic Compounds (1984) and Member of the International Advisory Board for the Dictionary of Inorganic Compounds (1988). Martin is a recipient of the prestigious H. G. Smith Medal by The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (1977), the Royal Society of Chemistry Award for Chemistry and Electrochemistry of Transition Metals (1984), the G. J. Burrows Award from The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (1987), the Nyholm Medal and Lectureship by The Royal Society of Chemistry (1991) and The Max Planck Society Research Award (1994, jointly with Professor Helmut Werner, University of Würzburg). Martin has contributed immensely to the development of organometallic chemistry and his work (more than 280 journal articles and reviews) has been published in various prestigious journals, including the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie, Organometallics, Inorganic Chemistry, Chemical Communications and Dalton Transactions.
2
Editorial / Polyhedron 120 (2016) 1–2
Martin’s PhD work included the first reported syntheses of (cycloheptatriene)Mo(CO)3 and of (chelating diene)RuCl2 complexes, which have become standard precursors in organo-transition metal chemistry. Martin made early contributions to the chemistry of RhCl(PPh3)3 and especially to that of its iridium analogue, which readily cyclometallates to the hydrido-complex [IrHCl (2-C6H4PPh2)(PPh3)2]. His group in Canberra was the first to prepare the much used (p-cymene) ruthenium dichloride dimer, sub-
sequently extending this work to other (arene)Ru(II) and (arene)Ru (0) complexes, which now play an important role both in coordination and in catalytic chemistry. His research included extensive studies on the organometallic chemistry of highly-strained smallring alkynes, including the elusive benzyne itself. Being part of Professor Bennett’s research family, we dedicate this special issue to Martin for his outstanding ongoing contribution to chemistry and his generous mentorship.