Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson

Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson (1921-1996), British inorganic chemist (non-carbon-based chemistry) and Nobel laureate. Wilkinson helped to develop the field of organometallic chemistry, which is the study of compounds containing metals and organic molecules. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in chemistry with Ernst Fischer for their work, independently, of correctly analyzing the molecular structure of certain organometallic compounds called metallocenes.

Wilkinson was born in Todmorden, England, and studied chemistry at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, receiving his Ph.D. degree there in 1946. After working in the United States for several years—at the University of California at Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Harvard University—he returned to Imperial College in 1956, where he continues his teaching and research.

While at Harvard, Wilkinson began the work that resulted in his Nobel Prize. After reading about a new compound containing an iron atom (Fe) and two molecules of cyclopentadiene (C₅H₆), he realized that the description of the compound's molecular structure was inaccurate. He correctly determined that the structure consisted of an iron atom “sandwiched” between the two ring-shaped cyclopentadiene molecules. This was possible only if a new type of chemical bond held the complex together. With Harvard colleague Robert Burns Woodward, Wilkinson analyzed this compound and proved his idea, also discovering that other metals, such as cobalt (Co) and ruthenium (Ru), could be substituted for iron in a similar sandwich-type arrangement. Because of the compound's similarity to the ring-shaped benzene molecule (C₆H₆), these new metal-based compounds became known as metallocenes.

Wilkinson continued his studies on these new and unusual substances. He found the first known compound whose molecular structure is in constant transition between two distinct configurations. He was the first to study organometallics with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In the 1960s he helped to develop a compound, called Wilkinson's catalyst, that allowed chemical reactions to take place on one part of an olefin molecule (petroleum product) without disturbing other parts of the same molecule.

Wilkinson's work in developing the field of organometallic chemistry brought him wide recognition and many honors, including a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II of England.