From Coello to Inorganic l\ Lifetime of Reactions PROFILES IN

Series Editor: John P. Fackler, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas

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From Coello to Inorganic Chemistry: A Lifetime of Reactions Fred Basolo

A Continuation Order Plan is available for tbis series. A continuation order will bring delivery of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only upon actual shipment. For furtber information please contact tbe publisher. From Coello to Inorganic Chemistry A Lifetime of Reactions

Fred Basolo Evanston, Illinois

Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Basolo, Fred, 1920- From Coello to inorganic chemistry: a lifetime of reactionslFred Basolo. p. cm. - (Profiles in inorganic chemistry) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4613-5169-6 ISBN 978-1-4615-0635-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-0635-5 1. Basolo, Fred, 1920- 2. -United States-Biography. 3. Chemistry, Inorganic-History-2Oth century. 1. Title. II. Series.

QD22.B258 A3 2002 540'.92-dc21 [B] 2002022220

ISBN 978-1-4613-5169-6 ©2oo2 Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Kluwer Academic I Plenum Publishers, New York in 2002 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2002

All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher.

In Loving Memory of

My Beloved Wife. Mary

and

My Parents, Giovani and Catherina Basolo SERIES PREFACE

A renaissance in the field of inorganic chemistry began in the middle of the 20th century. In the years following the discoveries of A. Werner and S. M. J!Ilrgensen at the tum of the century, the field was relatively inactive. The publica• tion of 's Nature of the Chemical Bond in 1938 and World War II shortly thereafter launched this renaissance. The war effort required an under• standing of the chemistry of uranium and the synthetic actinide elements that were essential to the production of the atom bomb. There was also a need for catalysts to produce rayon, nylon, synthetic rubber, and other new materials for the war effort. As a result, many gifted chemists applied their talents to inorganic chemistry. Profiles in Inorganic Chemistry explores the roles some of the key contributors played in the renaissance and development of the field. Some of the early leaders in this reawakening are now deceased. Pioneers included John Bailar at the University of Illinois, W. Conard Fernelius, at Pennsyl• vania State University, and Harold Booth at Western Reserve University, who with some others, started the important series entitled Inorganic Syntheses. Several inorganic chemistry journals were born, as were various monograph series includ• ing the Modem Inorganic Chemistry series of Kluwer Academic/Plenum Pub• lishers. , who along with E. O. Fischer was the first inorganic since Werner to win the , started his career at Harvard in about 1950 but later that decade moved to the University of London's Imperial College. By then, Ron Nyholm already was building a strong inorganic program at the University of London's University College. Physical and mathematical concepts including group theory gave inorganic

ix Series Preface chemists new tools to understand bonding, structure, and dynamics of inorganic molecules. Fischer, Wilkinson, and their contemporaries opened up a new subfield, , out of which many metal-based catalysts were devel• oped. It was soon realized that many inorganic minerals play essential roles as catalysts in living systems. As a result, another subfield, bioinorganic chemistry, was born. The discipline of inorganic chemistry today includes persons of many different walks of life, some creating new materials and catalysts, others studying living systems, many pondering environmental concerns with elements such as tin, mercury, or lead, but all focusing on questions outside the normal scope of organic chemistry. Organic chemistry has enjoyed a long history as a great science, both in Europe and the United States. During the past 15 years or so, many of the U.S. contributors have produced interesting autobiographies as part of an American Chemical Society series entitled Profiles in Organic Chemistry. There is also, however, a need to have students and scientists of inorganic chemistry understand the motivating forces that lead prominent living inorganic chemists to formulate their ideas. I am grateful that Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers has under• taken to publish this series. These profiles in inorganic chemistry will portray the interesting and varied personalities of leaders who have contributed significantly to the renaissance of inorganic chemistry.

John P. Fackler, Jr. College Station, Texas

x PREFACE

When approached by Professor John Fackler to write my autobiography, my immediate response was "Why should I write this, for nobody would be the least bit interested in it." John pointed out that several such volumes were written by organic chemists, and the same should be done to commemorate inorganic chemis• try and chemists. After thinking about this for several days, I decided to go ahead and try to do it. Now that the text of the book is finished, I can honestly say that I enjoyed writing it. There are several reasons why I am pleased to have written this book. Some of the reasons are mentioned here, without regard to any order of preference. As I kept writing, I became more and more interested in the many things in my life that I had forgotten. This forced me to think of what happened during my early years. It almost made me feel that I was again living those years of my life. My childhood in the little coal mining village of Coello during the depression of the 1930s taught me a lesson that one needs to experience in order to make use of it. The coal miners and their families were destitute, but they managed to survive this period by assisting one another when the going got tough. They had little or no formal educatizon, but yet they were intelligent. The all maintained their spirit, and looked forward to one day becoming USA citizens. Growing up in this environment has been of enor• mous help to me. Another reason for deciding to write my autobiography is to leave it for our children so that they can enjoy reading about the lives of their parents. Further• more, at age 81 and handicapped, I needed something to do that interested me and

xi Preface

kept me busy. I continue to come to my office at NU in the AM, have lunch with my faculty colleagues, and then leave in the early PM. As indicated above, there are several reasons for writing this account of my life. I was fortunate in obtaining a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry in 1943. This was a time when very little research was being done in the US in inorganic chemistry. It was belived that beginning general chemistry covered inorganic chemistry, and that no further course on it need be offered nor was there any reason for doing research in this area. Think of the enviable time I have had, watching inorganic chemistry grow and reach its present status and importance. I hope that some of the young chemists who read this book will better appreciate the birth of inorganic chemistry in the US, after a gestation period of half a century. Another thing that I would like to think youngsters may glean from this bok is that scientists, generally, but here chemists, are human beings as are other people. Except for our knowledge of some area of science, we are just people with the same likes and dislikes as any other layperson. That this autobiography has made it to print is entirely due to Janet H. Goranson, my former secretary for 25 years. She worked hard to improve my poorly written English, and she is a whiz on computers which she used extensively. I was so dependent on her that I felt she should be coauthor, and I thank her for making all of this possible. Then I thank my former Ph.D. (1964) student, John L. Burmeister, for having read the entire book, making some most valuable suggestions. I selected him knowing that he writes very well, since he had written a few accounts of me for special journal issues that were dedicated to me. I thank Dianne de Haseth for providing information I needed from our chemistry department archives, and for managing to get all of the inorganic faculty here at the same time for a group photo. I thank Jeffrey S. Goranson for scanning and preparing many of the photographs. I thank Jeannette Watt for making photocopies of items as required. I also thank staff members from the Northwestern University Archives, American Chemical Society, National Academy of Sciences, Gordon Research Conferences, Chemical Heritage Foundation, and North Atlantic Treaty Organiza• tion who sent me important information. Finally, I thank the many people who answered my request and sent me photos of themselves or others so that they could be included in this book.

Fred Basolo Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois April, 2001

xii CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xvii LIST OF FIGURES xix

CHAPTER 1 FROM COELLO TO INORGANIC COORDINATION CHEMISTRY 1 My Parents 1 The Early Years 3 Coello Elementary School 5 Christopher Community High School (CCHS) 7 Southern lllinois Normal (SIN) in Carbondale 8 University of lllinois (UI) in Champaign-Urbana 12 John Christian Bailar, Jr. 14 Graduate Days at the University of lllinois 16 The Legacy of the Bailar Lecture 18 My Dissertation Research 21 Industrial Research-Rohm & Haas (R&H) 28

CHAPTER 2 MARY, THE CHILDREN, AND ME 33 Home in Evanston 35 Sabbatical Year in Denmark 37 Back Home in Evanston 60 Sabbatical in Rome 61

xiii Contents

CHAPTER 3 FACULTY POSITION AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY (NU) 69 September 1946 69 Some Northwestern History 70 Teaching 72 Research 77 Research Environment 77 Research at NU 80 Substitution Reactions of Octahedral (III) Complexes (Co(III» 84 Acid Hydrolysis or Aquation of Metal Ammine Complexes (Cobalt(IIl) or Co(III» 86 Base Hydrolysis of Metal Ammine Complexes 88 Linkage 91 Ligand Substitution Reactions of Pt(ll) Square Planar Complexes 94 Organometallic Chemistry 100 Synthetic Oxygen Carriers 109 Chairman of the Chemistry Department 115

CHAPTER 4 OTHER ACTIVITIES 117 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 117 American Chemical Society (ACS) 124 Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) 136 International Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC) 144 Funding Agencies 146 The PRF Advisory Board 146 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 148

CHAPTER 5 COUNTRIES AND CHEMISTS VISITED 153 ~y 1~ People's Republic of China 159 Germany 168 Australia 173 Kuwait 177

CHAPTER 6 FOREIGN GUESTS HOSTED 183 1. K. Beattie 183 P. Dwyer 183

xiv Contents

F. Lions 186 A. M. Sargeson 187 V. Gutman 187 S. Asperger 188 A. A. Vlcek 189 C. E. Schaffer 190 C. K. Jorgensen 190 M. Becke-Goehring 191 E. O. Fischer 192 W. Klemm 192 V. Balzani 193 I. Bertini 194 F. Calderazzo 195 A. Ceccon 195 I. L. Fragala 195 R. Romeo 196 D. A. Buckingham 196 P. Sobota 197 B. J. Trzebiatowski 197 M. E. Vol'pin 198 L. G. Sillen 200 G. Schwarzenbach 201 L. Venanzi 202 K. B. Yatsimeski 202 C. Addison 203 J. Chatt 203 H. J. Emeleus 204 J. Lewis 205 R. S. Nyholm 206 A. J. Poe 207 M. D. Johnson 208

CHAPTER 7 EMERITUS PROFESSOR 209

APPENDIX 223 Basolo Award Medal 224 Honors 225 Dedications, Memberships, and Publications 226 Other Co-Authors 226 Ph.D. Students 227 Postdoctorates 277

xv Contents

Service to Chemistry 228 The Dream Team of NATO Workshop, 1972 230 Countries Visited 231 Academic Family Tree of Fred Basolo 232

NAME INDEX 233 SUBJECT INDEX 239

xvi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ACS American Chemical Society ABC Atomic Energy Commission AFOSR Air Force Office of Scientific Research BCST Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology BIP Basolo-Ibers-Pearson C&ENews Chemical and Engineering News CCHS Christopher Community High School CCS Committee on Chemical Sciences CEO Chief Executive Officer CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche DOE Department of Energy EDTA ethylenediaminetetraacetate ETH Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule EU European Union FRS Fellow of the Royal Society GNP Gross National Product GRC Gordon Research Conference ICCC International Conference on Coordination Chemistry ICI Industrial Chemical Industries INEOS Institute of Organoelement Compounds IRS Internal Revenue Service IUPAC International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry JACS Journal of the American Chemical Society

xvii List of Abbreviations

JSPS Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) MC Mary Catherine (Basolo) MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology NAS National Academy of Sciences NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NIH National Institutes of Health NMR Nuclear Magnetic Resonance NRC National Research Council NSF National Science Foundation NU Northwestern University OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration PGA Professional Golfer's Association Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy PRC People's Republic of China PRF Petroleum Research Foundation RC Research Cooperation R&H Rohn & Haas Chemical Company SIN Southern illinois Normal SN1 Substitution nucleophylic unimolecular SN1CB Substitution nucleophylic unimolecular conjugate base SN2 Substitution nucleophylic bimolecular SUNY State University of New York TUM Technische Universitiit Miinchen UCL University College London UI University of illinois UK United Kingdom US United States of America USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics WPA Works Progress Administration wwn World War II WWW World Wide Web

xviii LIST OF FIGURES

1-1 My Parents 2 1-2 My Cousin Aldo and Me 4 1-3 My Mother 6 1-4 The "Four Horsemen" 9 1-5 Professors James Neckers and Kenneth van Lente 10 1-6 My Entire Family in 1939 11 1-7 Honorary Degree in 1984 12 1-8 Me as a Graduate Student 13 1-9 Professor Reynald C. Fuson 13 1-10 Professor John Christian Bailar, Jr. 14 1-11 Professor Alfred Werner 15 1-12 Professor Sophus Mads J!1Irgensen 18 1-13 Professors Alfred Werner and Arturo Miolati 19 1-14 R&H Baseball Team, 1943-46 31

2-1 Mary and I, First Christmas, 1947 34 2-2 Mary's Mother 35 2-3 Professor Jannik Bjerrum 37 2-4 MC and Freddie in Denmark 39 2-5 Children in Denmark 39 2-6 After Dinner at the Carles berg Mansion 40 2-7 Jannik Bjerrum's Research Group in 1954-55 41 2-8 Book Cover of Mechanisms of Inorganic Reactions 42

xix List of Figures

2-9 Professor E. O. Fischer 44 2-10 Professor Walter Hieber 44 2-11 Professor Wilhelm Klemm 46 2-12 Professor Arthur Martell 47 2-13 French-Italian Border, 1955 48 2-14 Professor Lamberto Malatesta 51 2-15 Professor Luigi Sacconi 52 2-16 Professor Vincenzo Caglioti 53 2-17 The Royal and Ancient Golf Course in St. Andrews 55 2-18 Professor Clifford Addison 56 2-19 Professor Sir Ronald Nyholm and Family 58 2-20 Professor Joseph Chatt 59 2-21 My Family on Sabbatical in Rome (1961-62) 63 2-22 Book Cover of Coordination Chemistry 67

3-1 Professor Charles D. Hurd 70 3-2 Professors V. N. Ipatieff and Herman Pines 70 3-3 Walter Murphy 71 3-4 Professor Robert Parry and His Wife Marj 74 3-5 Professor Harry J. Emeleus 75 3-6 Professor Ralph G. Pearson and Myself 78 3-7 NU Inorganic Chemistry Faculty, 2001 79 3-8 Sir Christopher K. Ingold 80 3-9 Attendees at Symposium at NU, 1957 81 3-10 BIP Blackboard Demonstration Given by Bradley Holliday 82 3-11 Profesor and Myself 86 3-12 Professor Arthur Adamson 89 3-13 Professor John L. Burmeister 93 3-14 Professor Boguslova J. Trzebiatowska 95 3-15 Rates of Reaction of trans-PtCl2(pyridine)2 97 3-16 General SN2 Mechanisms of Pt(m Complexes 98 3-17 Professors Umberto Belluco and Marino Nicolini 99 3-18 Professor Luigi Venanzi 101 3-19 Professors Andrew Wojcicki, Harry Gray and Myself 103 3-20 Professor Fausto Calderazzo 108 3-21 Professor William C. Trogler 108 3-22 Professor Qi-Zhen Shi and Me 109 3-23 Professor Brian Hoffman 112 3-24 Pearson's and My Research Groups 115

4-1 Professor Kazuo Saito 118 4-2 Professor Shoichiro Yamada 119 xx List of Figures

4-3 Professor George Pimentel 122 4-4 Chemical Abstracts Index 124 4-5 Mary and Me in 1983 129 4-6 Arnold Thackray 131 4-7 C&E News, ACS President 132 4-8 Directors of GRC 137 4-9 Professor Kim Dunbar 140 4-10 Dr. Nadine de Vries 140 4-11 Conseil de Physique Solvay Conference, 1911 142 4-12 Professors Stanley Kirschner and Jan Reedijk 145 4-13 Professor Melvin S. Newman 147 4-14 Professor Renato U go 150 4-15 Professor Robert Burwell 151

5-1 Concorsa, Rome, 1962 155 5-2 Professor 156 5-3 Foreign Membership in Italian Academy of Science Lincei 157 5-4 Professor Luigi Sacconi, Lamberto Malatesta, and Me 157 5-5 Laurea Honoris Causa 158 5-6 The Sgarbi Family, My Relatives in Italy 159 5-7 Professor Yun-Ti Chen and Me 160 5-8 200 Faculty at Nankai University, 1979 161 5-9 Class on Coordination Chemistry, Nankai University, 1979 162 5-10 Vice Premier Fang-Yi, Mary, and Me 165 5-11 Professor Egon Wiberg 169 5-12 Professor E. O. Fischer and Me 170 5-13 Professors F. Albert Cotton, Andy Wojcicki, and Geoffrey Wilkinson 171 5-14 Professors E. O. Fischer and Geoffrey Wilkinson 171 5-15 Kuwaiti Students 178 5-16 Me in Kuwaiti Robe and Head Scarf 180

6-1 Professor Frankie Dwyer 184 6-2 Character Sketch of Frankie Dwyer 186 6-3 Professor Francis Lions 187 6-4 Professor Viktor Gutman 188 6-5 Professor S. Asperger 189 6-6 Professor Antonin Vlcek and his Wife 189 6-7 Professor Margot Becke-Goehring 191 6-8 Professor Mark Vol'pin and Me 199 6-9 Professor Lars Gunnar Sillen 200 6-10 Professor Gerhart Schwarzenbach 201

xxi List of Figures

6-11 Professor Yatsimerski 202 6-12 Professor Anthony Poe 207

7-1 In Front of My Brother Martin's Grocery Store 210 7-2 Sgarbi Brothers in Milan 213 7-4 Mary and Me in Copenhagen, 1995 217 7-5 Willard Gibbs Medal, 1996 218 7-6 Priestley Award, 2001 219 7-7 On My Scooter in the Tech Building 220

xxii