F. Albert Cotton

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F. Albert Cotton (born April 9, 1930) is the W.T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University. His areas of interest include the structure, synthesis, and properties of bi- and multimetallic complexes, but he has contributed to many areas involving the chemistry of the transition metals.

1 Education
2 Independent career
3 Pedagogical influence
4 Recognition
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Education

After a BS degree from Temple University in 1951, Cotton pursued a Ph.D. thesis under the guidance of Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson at Harvard where he worked on metallocenes.<ref>Wilkinson, G.; Pauson, P. L.; Cotton, F. A., "Bis-Cyclopentadienyl Compounds of Nickel and Cobalt", Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1954, volume 76, pages 1970-4. DOI: 10.1021/ja01636a080.</ref> He received his Ph.D. in 1955.

[edit] Independent career

Cotton began his career at MIT with an emphasis on both electronic structure and chemical synthesis. He pioneered the study of multiple bonding between metals, initially with research on rhenium halides,<ref>Bertrand, J. A.; Cotton, F. A.; Dollase, W. A., "Metal-Metal Bonded, Polynuclear Complex Anion in CsReCl₄", Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1963, volume 85, pages 1349-50. DOI: 10.1021/ja00892a029.</ref> and in 1964 identified the first known quadruple bond in the Re₂Cl₈^2- ion. He soon focussed on species related to chromium(II) acetate<ref>Cotton, F. A.; Walton, R. A. “Multiple Bonds Between Metal Atoms” Oxford (Oxford): 1993. ISBN 0-19-855649-7.</ref> in work which continues today. He also initiated a detailed study of metal cluster compounds. He was an early proponent of single crystal X-ray diffraction as a routine tool for elucidating the rich chemistry of metal complexes. Through his studies on clusters, he demonstrated that many exhibited "fluxionality", whereby ligands interchange coordination sites on spectroscopically observable time-scales. He coined the term hapticity. In the early 1970's, he moved to his current location at Texas A&M, where he has continued to be a prolific publisher and influential mentor.

[edit] Pedagogical influence

In addition to his research efforts, Cotton has contributed to the teaching of inorganic chemistry. He authored "Chemical Applications of Group Theory".<ref>Cotton, F. A., "Chemical Applications of Group Theory," John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1990.</ref> This text introduced generations of chemists to the value of group theoretical analysis of bonding and spectroscopy. With his Ph.D. advisor, he coauthored a text known simply as "Cotton and Wilkinson".<ref>Cotton, F. A. and Wilkinson, G., "Advanced Inorganic Chemistry", John Wiley and Sons: New York, 1988.</ref> The text, which has had many editions, surveys the entirety of inorganic chemistry with an emphasis on post-Wernerian themes of cluster chemistry, homogeneous catalysis, and organometallic chemistry. Prior to "Cotton and Wilkinson", instruction in inorganic chemistry was more practically driven, less connected to organometallics, and less focused on molecular structure.