Research Seminar of Prof. Patrick W. Fowler fromthe University of Sheffield

Lecture Time: 10:30 on 7th December, 2015

Lecture Room: C501 of National Sicence Park

Lecture Title: Graph Theory on the Edge of Chemistry: Bond Orders and Ring Currents

Patrick W. Fowler, Ph.D.

The University of Sheffield

Abstract:

Currents induced in conjugated molecules by external magnetic fields (ring currents) are indicators of aromaticity and delocalisation pathways, and give insight into electronic structure around the Fermi level. I will discuss briefly our approach to ab initio their calculation, but will concentrate on a new result that allows estimation of currents on the perimeter of a benzenoid using possibly the simplest valence concept: the Pauling bond order.

(This is joint work with Wendy Myrvold, University of Victoria, BC)

Biography:

Professor Fowler obtained a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Sheffield in 1977, after which he obtained his PhD in Chemistry from the same university in 1980. He was a SERC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge from 1980 to 1983. In 1984 he became a Senior Demonstrator at the University of Durham, followed by a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Cambridge in 1985. In 1985 he became a Lecturer in Physical Chemistry at the University of Exeter, where he was promoted to Reader in 1990 and Professor in 1995. In 2005 he became professor of Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Sheffield. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2012.

Awards:

RSC Corday-Morgan Medal (1992); RSC Tilden Lecturer (2004/5); Professeur Invité, Ecole Nationale Supérieure, Paris (1996-2005); Royal-Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award (2004-2009); Professeur Invité, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse (2007).