Scientific Journey of Zvonimir Maksiü
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CROATICA CHEMICA ACTA CCACAA, ISSN-0011-1643, ISSN-1334-417X Croat. Chem. Acta 82 (1) (2009) CXIX–CXXXI. Scientific Journey of Zvonimir Maksi It is a difficult task to write on the scientific career of other was Ivan Supek’s “From Antique Philosophy to Zvonimir Maksi, because it is long, rich and multifac- the Modern Theory of Atoms”. That book was a revela- eted reflecting a wide spectrum of his interests ranging tion and he described it like an entrance to the wonder- from molecular physics through chemistry to the mo- land of atoms and molecules. Since that moment he lecular biology and (ortho)molecular medicine. He went knew that his profession would be science. His interests a long way of a theoretical chemist who started with the in the high school were mainly focused to physics and pencil and paper calculations by using mechanical cal- chemistry. Most of the time, however, he spent studying culators, over semiempirical calculations on small com- and playing chess. The game of kings was enchanting puters based on perforated ribbons and boxes of with its logical structure, elegance and artistic pleasure punched cards, to be dragged to the computer centres, offered by the chess combinations. In a way, this was a and who has heavily used the modern ab initio compu- preparation for scientific career without knowing it. tation methods in some of the largest supercomputing After graduation at high school, he started to make facilities in the world via internet connections in the last plans for the future. His father, who was a professor of two decades. It is a story of a researcher in a remote geophysics and meteorology at the University of Za- country with limited resources, where grave problems in greb, warned him that academia can offer a very modest research could be surmounted only by creativity and living standard, which is "compensated" by many obsta- very hard work. A long list of the published papers cles, but he would not listen. Striving to learn what witnesses his persistence and devotion to science. Al- atoms are doing in molecules and how tiny molecules though we know a lot about his research, particularly affect properties of large objects, i.e. molecular materi- since we had a chance to work with him over many als, he enrolled chemical physics just introduced at the years, there were some gaps in our knowledge. In order Faculty of Science of the University of Zagreb. This to bridge them, we had to make several interviews with curriculum was dismantled after just one year as “too Professor Maksi. This was a lot of fun, since he did not difficult”! This twist of fate turned to be a useful one, only provide required information and materials, but because he switched to theoretical physics, which was shared also with us reminiscences about many remark- rather strong in Zagreb. It was led by Ivan Supek, who able scientists including Ivan Supek, Božo Težak, Linus was a member of Heisenberg’s seminar in Leipzig be- Pauling and Rolf Gleiter, who influenced his life and fore the Second World War and who obtained his Ph.D. career the most, albeit in different ways. We are aware working with Friedrich Hund. Ivan Supek inaugurated of the fact that biography condensed in a few pages Leipzig’s theoretical physics curriculum in Zagreb. must be incomplete. Nevertheless, we believe and hope Zvonimir Maksi took a large number of courses in that the most important moments are well described. mathematics and quantum theory, which proved useful in his later work in quantum chemistry. After receiving The Beginnings B.Sc. degree he accepted position of research assistant Zvonimir Maksi was born in Bitola (Republic of Ma- at Ruer Boškovi Institute (RBI) in 1962. The RBI was cedonia) on September 11, 1938. He attended the ele- founded by Ivan Supek in 1950 and became the most mentary and high school in Zagreb. As a child he liked important institute for natural sciences in Croatia. to read Shakespeare’s dramas and Jules Verne’s science Zvonimir Maksi started to work with Milan Randi, fiction novels. However, two books were decisive. The who came back from England (Cambridge), where he first was biography of Louis Pasteur. He was impressed received Ph.D. in molecular spectroscopy. The start–up by a number of discoveries made by a single man. The equipment was a small mechanical desk calculator, Croat. Chem. Acta 82 (2009) CXIX. CXX Scientific Journey of Zvonimir Maksi which has been making terrible noise when used, thus lar properties like geometries,10–12 heats of formation causing protests of the readers in the next–room library. and hydrogenation,13 angular strain energies,14 isopycnic In retrospect, it was a blessing, because one was forced deformation contours of the electron density distribu- to think very carefully what to do and why to do it be- tions,15 and even UV spectral transitions in highly fore starting calculations. Among a couple of offered strained hydrocarbons,16 as well as some of the mag- themes, he selected to work on hybridization of atomic netic properties.17 At the same time, HOs were useful orbitals, which proved to be a fortunate choice. for qualitative and semiquantitative interpretation of local bond properties in addition to the already men- The Model Building tioned spin–spin coupling of directly bonded atoms: the Hybridization was discovered by Linus Pauling eighty intrinsic bond energies,18 the isolated stretching fre- years ago in his two milestone papers1 and discussed in quencies of C–H bonds,19 symmetric and asymmetric extenso in the book considered as a bible of chemistry stretching frequencies,20 the C–H, C–C and C=C of the 20th century.2 This seminal concept was intro- stretching force constants21,22 and C–H bond acidity.23 duced in order to describe the local symmetry of an Interestingly, the hybridization has also a strong influ- atom defined by its immediate chemical environment. ence on the C–H proton isotropic hyperfine coupling Following footsteps of Charles A. Coulson,3 Randi and constants in planar radicals.24 Last and perhaps the most Maksi used the criterion of maximum overlapping and important, several new inter–relations between various determined hybridization in some highly strained hy- observables were derived (via hybrids’ s–character and drocarbons, which were at the focus of interest in or- the overlapping integrals), which have not been known ganic chemistry.4,5 The work on bicyclo[1.1.0]butane earlier.22 Despite the fact that the s–characters cannot be was particularly interesting, because the twisted chemi- measured directly and defined in a unique way, they cal bond was found for the first time.5 Unfortunately, affect a large number of molecular properties. For that Zvonimir Maksi was drafted to serve the army for a reason the hybridization was termed a pseudo-obser- year. As a Croat in strongly pro–Serbian Yugoslav vable.22 Army, he had a very hard time. After a year of thorough The hybridization model was successful, because brainwashing he returned to the RBI and was able to it inherently included two most fundamental facets of continue work at the end of a longer convalescence covalent bonding: (1) local symmetry and the spatial period. He finished up Ph.D. thesis under a guidance of arrangement of covalent bonds, and (2) the bond M. Randi in 1968. Around that time he met a young strength embodied in overlapping. Additionally, polari- physical organic chemist Mirjana Eckert. Soon they zation of the HOs in particular directions in space started to work together at the Institute and their own minimized its presence in others, thus diminishing Pauli home. Afterwards, they went for postdoctoral studies, repulsion between electron pairs. The HOs describe also first at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (with the electron correlation (see later). The efficacy of the John Bloor) in 1970–1971 and then at the University of HO model gives rise to the idea that atoms are perturbed Texas at Austin (with Michael J. S. Dewar) in 1972– in molecules, but retain their identity. This means that 1973. Returning to Zagreb and the RBI, he took position molecules are not structureless droplets of the nuclei of a research associate in 1973 and a position of a part and electrons, which is gratifying. Instead, they have time associate professor at his Alma Mater, the Faculty structured arrangements of constituent atoms, which are of Science of the University of Zagreb. He has held (slightly) modified compared to their free–state features. research and teaching positions at both institutions ever This memory effect is reflected in a wide variety of since, until recent retirement. molecular properties as evidenced by a number of In Zagreb he tried first to round up the work on atomic additivity rules. The performance of the latter hybridization. The slightly modified Muller–Pritchard were conclusively illustrated by the second moments of and Bernstein formulae for calculations of the J(C–H) the electron density distributions25 and the related dia- and J(C–C) spin–spin coupling constants of directly magnetic susceptibilities (Langevin’s terms).23,2628 By bonded nuclei, based on variable hybrid orbital (HO) using these additivity formulae, Professor Maksi was model were in very good accordance with experi- able to interpret a 100 years old Pascal’s empirical rule ments6,7 possessing a high predictive power. The same governing behaviour of the temperature independent approach was extended to some other nuclei.8,9 An im- magnetic susceptibility of molecules.29 It turned out that portant refinement was introduced by the Iterative Pascal’s constants were weighted free–atom magnetic Maximum Overlap Method,10,11 which made possible susceptibilities.30,31 This was the first theoretical ration- optimization of structural parameters, i.e.