Vernon C. Gibson
Encyclopedia
Early life
He was born in GranthamGrantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, the son of Dennis and Pamela Gibson. He attended the King’s School in Grantham (where Isaac Newton preceded him), then studied Chemistry at Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
where he graduated in 1980. After gaining a D.Phil. in Malcolm Green
Malcolm Green (chemist)
Malcolm Green also known as M. L. H. Green is a British Emeritus Professor of Inorganic Chemistry.Born in Eastleigh, Hampshire, he received his BSc degree from Acton Technical College in 1956 and his PhD from Imperial College of Science and Technology in 1959 under the supervision of Professor...
's group at Oxford, he went to the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
on a NATO postdoctoral fellowship where he further developed his interest in organometallic chemistry and catalysis with John Bercaw
John E. Bercaw
John E. Bercaw is an American chemist and Centennial Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology....
.
Chemistry career
In 1986 he returned to the UK to a lectureship in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of DurhamDurham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
, where he was appointed to a chair in 1993. At Durham he developed his interest in the use of organometallic and coordination compounds for the synthesis of polymers. In 1995 he moved to Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
where, in collaboration with BP Chemicals, he established a Discovery Programme to research novel catalysts for the polymerisation of alkenes. He became the first holder of the Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson
Geoffrey Wilkinson
Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson FRS was a Nobel laureate English chemist who pioneered inorganic chemistry and homogeneous transition metal catalysis.-Biography:...
Chair in 1998, and became the Sir Edward Frankland
Edward Frankland
Sir Edward Frankland, KCB, FRS was a chemist, one of the foremost of his day. He was an expert in water quality and analysis, and originated the concept of combining power, or valence, in chemistry. He was also one of the originators of organometallic chemistry.-Biography:Edward Frankland was born...
BP Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Head of Catalysis & Advanced Materials in 2001. Among his various catalyst discoveries in this period were the first highly active ethene polymerization systems based on iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, and new catalysts for the production of biodegradable materials. He was elected to the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 2004. His curiosity has led him to explore right across the periodic table
Periodic table
The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular display of the 118 known chemical elements organized by selected properties of their atomic structures. Elements are presented by increasing atomic number, the number of protons in an atom's atomic nucleus...
and to seek an understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of catalysis which influence the properties of materials produced.
Research interests
- Olefin polymerizationVinyl polymerVinyl polymers are a group of polymers derived from vinyl monomers. Their backbone is an extended alkane chain, made by polymerizing an alkene group into a chain . In popular usage, "vinyl" refers only to polyvinyl chloride...
- LigandLigandIn coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding between metal and ligand generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's electron pairs. The nature of metal-ligand bonding can range from...
-orientated catalyst design - Polylactic acidPolylactic acidPoly or polylactide is a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch , tapioca products or sugarcanes...
- Ring opening metathesis polymerisationRing opening metathesis polymerisationRing-opening metathesis polymerization is a type of olefin metathesis chain-growth polymerization that produces industrially important products. The driving force of the reaction is relief of ring strain in cyclic olefins and a wide variety of catalysts have been discovered...