Professor Andrew Weller (University of York, UK) gave the 2020 Ray and Dorothy Wilson Inorganic Lecture on February 19, 2020.
His lecture titled “Solid–State Molecular Organometallic Chemistry: “Impossible” Alkane Complexes, Catalysis and More” was held in the Cram Conference Room.
Dr. Andrew Weller is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of York, moving with his group in January 2020. Prior to this position he was Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and a fellow of Magdalen College. Research in the Weller group is based upon synthetic organometallic chemistry and catalysis, and in particular the generation and stabilisation of transition metal complexes with a low coordination number. These complexes often show very interesting, and novel structures, that display C–H, B–H and C–C bonding modes (via agostic or sigma interactions). Not only are they interested in the fundamentals of synthesis, bonding and structure of these complexes, but they also have a focus on their use and development in challenging catalytic bond transformations, such as C–H, B–H and C–C activation.
Professor Andrew Weller (center ) with chemistry faculty members (from left) Professors Jeffrey Zink, Chong Liu, Xiangfeng Duan, Alex Spokoyny, Paula Diaconescu and Paul Weiss.
(Left) Before his lecture, Weller posed for a selfie with Chemistry 174 students Maya Shaitrit, Haleema Kashif, Sachi Hillliard, Ila Castro, and Rita Bilamejian. (Right) Spokoyny gave the history of Ray and Dorothy Wilson’s contributions to the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and introduced Weller.
Weller’s lecture in the Cram Conference Room was titled “Solid–State Molecular Organometallic Chemistry: “Impossible” Alkane Complexes, Catalysis and More”.
About Raymond and Dorothy Wilson
The Raymond and Dorothy Wilson Inorganic Lecture was initiated in 2019 thanks to an endowment established by long-time supporters of the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Raymond A. Wilson ’43, and his wife, Dorothy A. Wilson. In addition to funding the Raymond and Dorothy Wilson Inorganic Lecture and the Hawthorne Lectures (established in 2004), several undergraduates are able to conduct summer research in our research labs each year thanks to the Raymond & Dorothy Wilson Research Fellowships. Through their generosity, the Wilsons have built a solid legacy in the department that is also a lasting tribute to the UCLA chemistry professors who, more than seventy years ago, had such a profound impact on Raymond when he was a bright young chemistry student.
Event photos and article by Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penny@chem.ucla.edu.
