Martin A. Bennett
Martin Arthur Bennett FRS is an Australian inorganic chemist. He gained recognition for studies on the coordination chemistry of tertiary phosphines, olefins, and acetylenes, and the relationship of their behavior to homogeneous catalysis.
Professional career
Born in London, Bennett studied at The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School and received his PhD with Geoffrey Wilkinson at Imperial College. He was subsequently a researcher at University College, London with Ronald Nyholm and then with Arthur Adamson. While in London he discovered what is now known as Wilkinson's catalyst (RhCl(PPh3)3).[1] In the 1960s he took a position in the Research School of Chemistry at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Contributions
At ANU, Bennett developed several lines of research broadly on themes in organometallic chemistry. These included pursuing his previous work on RhCl(PPh3)3, but focused on the Ir derivative which undergoes ortho-metallation to the hydride HIrCl(PPh3)2(Ph2PC6H4).[2] He prepared the first complexes of cyclooctyne, cycloheptyne, and cyclohexyne. He developed rare examples of metal-alkene complexes that exist in two oxidation states. His group first prepared the now popular reagent (cymene)ruthenium dichloride dimer.[3]
References
- ↑ Bennett, M. A.; Longstaff, P. A. Complexes of Rhodium(I) with Triphenylphosphine. Chem. Ind. (London) 1965, p. 846.
- ↑ Bennett, Martin Arthur; D. L. Milner "Chlorotris(triphenylphosphine)iridium(I) and related complexes. Oxidative addition reactions and hydrogen abstraction from the coordinated ligand" J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1969, volume 91, pp 6983–6994. doi:10.1021/ja01053a016
- ↑ Bennett, M. A.; Huang, T. N.; Matheson, T. W. , Smith, A. K. "(η6-Hexamethylbenzene)ruthenium Complexes", Inorganic Syntheses, 1982, volume 21, pages 74–8. doi:10.1002/9780470132524.ch16