Biographical Memoirs Volume 67 (1995) / Chapter Skim
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Rowland Pettit
Rowland Pettit
Pages 292-313
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From page 293... ...
~ 981 BY ~ O HN C . GI LB ERT ROWLAND PETTiT, although educated primarily in the area of physical-organic chemistry, focused his scientific research on organo-transition metal chemistry and brought a level of creativity and a "nose" for the issues of significance in the subject that justly earned him international recognition.
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From page 294... ...
Because the state of pool technology was primitive by contemporary standards, control of algae was a continuing battle, and this was particularly vexing to "Daddy," who enjoyed his daily swim. Pettit, aware of the role of copper compounds as effective aIgicides, saw an opportunity to make a lasting, positive impression on his beloved's father, thereby fortifying his relationship with the daughter.
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From page 295... ...
his lifelong fascination with nonbenzenoid aromatic compounds and organometallic chemistry, and furthering his interest in the application of theory to organic chemistry; Rolly had independently learned molecular orbital theory while at Adelaide, although no one in the department at that time either knew this technique or cared about it. Pettit's best-known accomplishment at QMC was the first intentional synthesis of tropylium ion Alp, the first truly stable carbenium ion to be discovered.
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From page 296... ...
and other unidentified products. Johnson explained the facile hydrolysis in terms of an unprecedented SNI-type reaction, its ease owing to the aromaticity of the tropylium ion Alp, derived from 2b by ionization.
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From page 297... ...
of a series of astonishingly stable aromatic "borazaro" compounds, conceptually derived from normal aromatic hydrocarbons by replacing one or more pairs of adjacent carbon atoms by the isoelectronic moiety, B-N+. While borazine (9)
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From page 298... ...
thesis and that the money would be wasted if he failed to write one. So he relented and I arranged the oral examination carefully, planning it for our home after dinner, with one of my oldest friends, Christopher Longuet-Higgins, as the
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From page 299... ...
It was at this point that he discovered it would be impossible for him to emigrate to the United States with a permanent visa since the quota of these for citizens of Australia was 100 per year and the waiting list was already twenty years Tong. Indeed, the only option available that would allow him to enter the United States by the fall was as a participant in the "Exchange Visitor Program of the University of Texas," which was (resigned to enable foreign students to further their educations in Texas.
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Nevertheless, always the optimist and anxious to embark on his independent scientific career, Rolly elected to come to Texas despite having only a student visa. The outcome of this decision was obviously to be of great mutual benefit.
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All of Rolly's visa problems were eventually rendered moot when, in 1959, he married Flora Hunter, a Ph.D. biochemist associated with the Clayton Foundation Institute of Biochemistry at UT-Austin.
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3 10 Extension of the investigation of various organoiron complexes eventually led Rolly and his co-workers to the preparation in ~ 964 of ~ ,3-cyclobutadiene iron tricarbony} ~ AL 1 )
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, and benzohomotropylium ion Lloyd. Rolly's interest in the properties of highly strained compounds and his unique combination of expertise in organometallic chemistry and theoretical organic chemistry led to seminal studies of metal-catalyzed cycloadditions and rearrangements that stimulated many other scientists to explore the mechanism and application of such processes.
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From page 304... ...
His enviable chemical intuition and ability to design simple yet definitive experiments resultect in important mechanistic understanding of the olefin metathesis (disproportionation) reaction and the Fischer-Tron.~.h nrores.~ 1 _ ~1 _ rat 1 · ~ r , · ~ .
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From page 305... ...
In related work, Pettit and his group demonstrated the synthetic utility of carbon monoxide and water in an ironcatalyzed water gas shift reaction with the intermediacy of an anionic metal hydride. These results have significant implications for addressing the challenge of producing synthetic fuels by metal-catalyzed processes.
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From page 306... ...
Although there were many projects ongoing at the time, the one that commanded Rolly's interest on an almost daily basis was the effort related to the catalytic hydrogenolytic clepolymerization of hydrocarbons. The chemistry required considerable fine tuning of the experimental procedures before meaningful results could be obtained.
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From page 307... ...
Similarly, his obvious delight at being able to conduct experiments on the efficacy of calcium carbide in coaxing his beloved bromeliads into bloom typified his excitement about research of all kinds. In an entirely different vein, he was a sight to behold as he tended to his small herd of cattle, handling the ranch equipment, all of which was foreign to this Aussie, with aplomb and ascertaining that his bull, "Taurus," was behaving himself.6 Rowland Pettit was an exceptional human being, much admired by his colleagues here and abroad, his students, and all those with whom he came in contact.
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From page 308... ...
One point of contention, according to a letter that Pettit wrote to Al Matsen, a colleague at UT-Austin, in June of 1962, was that the University of Chicago was dragging its feet with regard to providing Dewar with an air conditioner for his office, and Michael was finding the summer heat and humidity of the Windy City unbearable; air conditioning was something that Texans knew about, and it was made clear in the offering letter to Dewar that his research space would all be so equipped. A somewhat different perspective on the matter has been provided by Dewar himself.
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From page 309... ...
For example, when the children reached the age when sex education was important, he enthusiastically joined Flora in the purchase of two pure-bred Persian kittens, naming the male, "Joe Kapp," in honor of the Minnesota Vikings quarterback of the time. Joe eventually performed his fatherly duties but had such a miserable personality that he was banned from the house shortly thereafter.
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Diene-iron carbonyl complexes and related species.
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I Hydroformylation reaction and water gas shift reaction.
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312 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 1982 With W
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