James P. Collman (born 1932) is an American chemist who is the George A. and Hilda M. Daubert Professor of Chemistry, emeritus at Stanford University. Collman's research focused on organometallic bioinorganic chemistry. Collman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Early life and education
Collman was born in 1932, in Beatrice, Nebraska.
Collman received B.S. (1954) and M.S. degrees (1956) in chemistry from the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...
. He received a Ph.D. degree from the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
in 1958 under Reynold C. Fuson. After serving as an Instructor at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
for one year, he was hired as an assistant professor in 1959. Collman was promoted to associate professor in 1962, then full professor in 1966. In 1967, he moved to Stanford University. He was promoted to George A. & Hilda M. Daubert Endowed Chair in Chemistry in 1980, and is now professor emeritus.
Research contributions
Collman has contributed to several aspects of transition metal chemistry, as documented in over 366
scientific papers
: ''For a broader class of literature, see Academic publishing.''
Scientific literature comprises scholarly publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences. Within an academic field, scient ...
.
In the 1960s his group demonstrated that certain metal
acetylacetonate
Acetylacetone is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is a colorless liquid, classified as a 1,3-diketone. It exists in equilibrium with a tautomer . These tautomers interconvert so rapidly under most conditions that they are tr ...
s undergo Friedel-Crafts-like reactions, indicating that these chelate rings have aromatic character.
In the area of organometallic chemistry, through reviews as well as original research, his group popularized the
oxidative addition
Oxidative addition and reductive elimination are two important and related classes of reactions in organometallic chemistry. Oxidative addition is a process that increases both the oxidation state and coordination number of a metal centre. Oxid ...
reaction, leading to the discovery of new low-valent complexes including Ru(CO)3(PPh3)2 and IrCl(N2)(PPh3)2. Collman's reagent, Na2Fe(CO)4, prepared in his laboratories, enables certain C-C coupling reactions in organic synthesis. He coauthored an influential textbook, ''Principles and Applications of Organotransition Metal Chemistry'', that went through three editions.
He popularized the use of
tetraphenylporphyrin
Tetraphenylporphyrin, abbreviated TPP or H2TPP, is a synthetic heterocyclic compound that resembles naturally occurring porphyrins. Porphyrins are dyes and cofactors found in hemoglobin and cytochromes and are related to chlorophyll and vitamin ...
as a
biomimetic
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from grc, βίος (''bios''), life, and μίμησ ...
ligand
In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule ( functional group) that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's elec ...
for exploring the structure and function of myoglobin,
cytochrome P450
Cytochromes P450 (CYPs) are a superfamily of enzymes containing heme as a cofactor that functions as monooxygenases. In mammals, these proteins oxidize steroids, fatty acids, and xenobiotics, and are important for the clearance of various co ...
, and
cytochrome oxidase
The enzyme cytochrome c oxidase or Complex IV, (was , now reclassified as a translocasEC 7.1.1.9 is a large transmembrane protein complex found in bacteria, archaea, and mitochondria of eukaryotes.
It is the last enzyme in the respiratory elect ...
.
Awards and honors
* Received the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
Chemical & Engineering News
''Chemical & Engineering News'' (''C&EN'') is a weekly news magazine published by the American Chemical Society, providing professional and technical news and analysis in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering.
Collman has advised many academic researchers, many of whom have gone on to notable careers. Two of his postdoctoral researchers at Stanford,
Karl Barry Sharpless
Karl Barry Sharpless (born April 28, 1941) is an American chemist and a two-time Nobel laureate in Chemistry known for his work on stereoselective reactions and click chemistry.
Sharpless was awarded half of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry " ...
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...