John David Kennedy
Encyclopedia
John David Kennedy is a chemist
and professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Leeds
, UK. He works in the area of polyhedral borane
chemistry.
in 1968, he was a research associate at State University of New York at Albany until 1971. He then returned to University College London as a research fellow. From 1971-1972 he served as a temporary lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of London, Kings College
, and as a research associate at Sir John Cass School of Science and Technology, City of London Polytechnic from 1972-1975. He then moved to the University of Leeds, UK, where he was successively a research fellow, senior research fellow, principal research fellow, senior lecturer and reader in inorganic chemistry. In 2000 he became a professor of inorganic chemistry. In 1993 he received the J E Purkyne Medal from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
. In 1994 he made a successful ascent of Kilimanjaro. In 2000 he was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry
1999 Silver Medal for Main-Group Chemistry.
of 40. Such a high h-index is exceptional, especially for a chemist working in an unfashionable field.
, Carborane
, Polyhedra, Megaloborane, Heteroborane, intermolecular interaction, Supramolecular chemistry
, molecular self-assembly, Least coordinating anion
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
and professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
, UK. He works in the area of polyhedral borane
Borane
In chemistry, a borane is a chemical compound of boron and hydrogen. The boranes comprise a large group of compounds with the generic formulae of BxHy. These compounds do not occur in nature. Many of the boranes readily oxidise on contact with air, some violently. The parent member BH3 is called...
chemistry.
Biography
John D Kennedy was born in 1943. He was educated at Scarborough High School for Boys between 1954 and 1962 and received his BSc from University College London in 1965. After receiving his PhD from University College LondonUniversity College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
in 1968, he was a research associate at State University of New York at Albany until 1971. He then returned to University College London as a research fellow. From 1971-1972 he served as a temporary lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of London, Kings College
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
, and as a research associate at Sir John Cass School of Science and Technology, City of London Polytechnic from 1972-1975. He then moved to the University of Leeds, UK, where he was successively a research fellow, senior research fellow, principal research fellow, senior lecturer and reader in inorganic chemistry. In 2000 he became a professor of inorganic chemistry. In 1993 he received the J E Purkyne Medal from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. In 1994 he made a successful ascent of Kilimanjaro. In 2000 he was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences." It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new...
1999 Silver Medal for Main-Group Chemistry.
Research interests
Kennedy has been at the forefront of macropolyhedral megaloborane chemistry for many years. His research interests are diverse, involving many different species of heteroboranes, metallaboranes, metallaheteroboranes and carboranes. A major theme is the exploration of the spectrum of intimacy between clusters: from discrete polyhedra connected by rigid organic tethers, to giant megaloboranes, generated through the seamless fusion of multiple clusters. The unusual cluster-geometries and hydride-like properties of the compounds synthesized in the Kennedy group make them ideal candidates for the investigation of unconventional intermolecular interactions, such as the dihydrogen bond. The Kennedy group also focuses on the novel structures obtained through the introduction of metals and heteroatoms into polyhedral boranes: these "disobedient skeletons", some described as "iso-nido" or "iso-closo", do not follow Wade's rules. These boron clusters may act as flexible scaffolds for catalytically active metals. Professor Kennedy is a leading authority on the reaction chemistry of metallaboranes. He has also been involved with the synthesis of relatively inert monocarborane derivatives as non-coordinating counter-anions for many industrial applications.Awards
Kennedy has published 383 papers. According to "Web of Science" he has an h-indexH-index
The h-index is an index that attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar. The index is based on the set of the scientist's most cited papers and the number of citations that they have received in other publications...
of 40. Such a high h-index is exceptional, especially for a chemist working in an unfashionable field.
Research keywords
BoraneBorane
In chemistry, a borane is a chemical compound of boron and hydrogen. The boranes comprise a large group of compounds with the generic formulae of BxHy. These compounds do not occur in nature. Many of the boranes readily oxidise on contact with air, some violently. The parent member BH3 is called...
, Carborane
Carborane
A carborane is a cluster composed of boron and carbon atoms. Like many of the related boranes, these clusters are polyhedra and are similarly classified as closo-, nido-, arachno-, hypho-, etc...
, Polyhedra, Megaloborane, Heteroborane, intermolecular interaction, Supramolecular chemistry
Supramolecular chemistry
Supramolecular chemistry refers to the area of chemistry beyond the molecules and focuses on the chemical systems made up of a discrete number of assembled molecular subunits or components...
, molecular self-assembly, Least coordinating anion