Wilkinson, Sir Geoffrey (1921-1996), an English chemist, did important work on organometallic compounds (substances that consist of organic compounds and metal atoms). Wilkinson conducted much research into bonding between different metals and hydrogen. He discovered chlorotris, a catalyst that causes other substances to react with hydrogen. This catalyst, now often known as Wilkinson’s catalyst, has proved to be of great importance for industry, as well as in the study of organic and inorganic chemistry. For his work on organometallic compounds, Wilkinson was awarded half of the 1973 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The other half went to German scientist Ernst Fischer, who worked independently in the same field (see Fischer, Ernst Otto ).
In the early 1950’s, Wilkinson studied a newly synthesized compound called ferrocene and established its molecular structure. Wilkinson showed that the ferrocene molecule consists of an iron atom bonded to each of five carbon atoms in two rings of carbon and hydrogen. The iron atom is “sandwiched” between the two rings. This structure accounted for the molecule’s great stability. Wilkinson and others based their synthesis of many organometallic compounds on similar structures. Many of these compounds contain transition elements, metallic elements with an incomplete inner electron shell, such as ruthenium, rhodium, and rhenium. Some of these new compounds have been important as catalysts in industrial processes, such as creating plastics and low-lead fuels. Others have uses in medicine, creating pharmaceuticals such as L-dopa which is used to treat Parkinson’s disease.
Wilkinson was born on July 14, 1921, in Todmorden, Yorkshire in England. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of London in 1946. From 1943, he did research in Canada and the United States in nuclear energy and related fields. In 1956, he returned to the United Kingdom and became professor of inorganic chemistry at Imperial College. He was knighted in 1976. He died on Sept. 26, 1996.
