Penelope Jane Brothers is a New Zealand chemistry academic. She is currently Director of the Research School of Chemistry at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

, specializing in

inorganic chemistry Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...

Academic career

Brothers completed a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

and

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, in 1978 and then 1979. Later that year, she traveled to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

after receiving a

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

fellowship. There, she studied under

James P. Collman 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 t ...

and completed a 1985 PhD titled '''The organometallic chemistry of ruthenium and osmium porphyrin complexes. The next year, Brothers returned to the

as a

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

, rising to full professor in 2009. During her early career, she played a large role in establishing her field of

porphyrin Porphyrins ( ) are a group of heterocyclic macrocycle organic compounds, composed of four modified pyrrole subunits interconnected at their α carbon atoms via methine bridges (=CH−). The parent of porphyrin is porphine, a rare chemical com ...

chemistry; as of 2018, she is the only researcher who has studied the role of

boron Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the ''boron group'' it has th ...

in porphyrins or

corrole A corrole is an aromatic tetrapyrrole. The corrin ring is also present in cobalamin ( vitamin B12). The ring consists of nineteen carbon atoms, with four nitrogen atoms in the core of the molecule. In this sense, corrole is very similar to porph ...

s. In 2007, Brothers was named as a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Senior Scholar. She is also on the editorial board of the journal ''

Chemical Communications ''ChemComm'' (or ''Chemical Communications''), formerly known as ''Journal of the Chemical Society D: Chemical Communications'' (1969–1971), ''Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications'' (1972–1995), is a peer-reviewed scientif ...

'' as associate editor. Professor Brothers left the

to join

in 2019, where she is currently Director of the Research School of Chemistry.

Selected works

* Chang, John Yu-Chih, Guo-Liang Lu, Ralph J. Stevenson, Penelope J. Brothers, George R. Clark, K. Jane Botting, Dianne M. Ferry et al. "Cross-bridged cyclen or cyclam Co (III) complexes containing cytotoxic ligands as hypoxia-activated prodrugs."

Inorganic Chemistry Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...

52, no. 13 (2013): 7688–7698. * Tonei, Deborah M., Lisa-Jane Baker, Penelope J. Brothers, George R. Clark, and David C. Ware. "Decarboxylation of an α-amino acid coordinated to cobalt (III): kinetic stabilisation and molecular structure of a Co–C–N three-membered ring incorporated into a cobalt (III) macrocyclic ligand complex."

23 (1998): 2593–2594. * Brothers, Penelope J., George R. Clark, Helen R. Palmer, and David C. Ware. "Condensation reactions of cobalt amino acid complexes with formaldehyde: Preparation and crystal structures of cobalt complexes containing new hexadentate, pendant-arm macrocyclic and acyclic ligands."

36, no. 24 (1997): 5470–5477. *Brothers, Penelope J., and Warren R. Roper. "Transition-metal dihalocarbene complexes."

Chemical Reviews ''Chemical Reviews'' is peer-reviewed scientific journal published twice per month by the American Chemical Society. It publishes review articles on all aspects of chemistry. It was established in 1924 by William Albert Noyes (University of Illinoi ...

88, no. 7 (1988): 1293–1326.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brothers, Penelope Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Academic staff of the Australian National University New Zealand women academics Academic staff of the University of Auckland University of Auckland alumni Stanford University alumni New Zealand chemists New Zealand women chemists