Richard Jones was born in England in 1954.
His university education was at the Imperial College of Science
and Technology (London University), England, where he received
the following degrees: Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (1st
Class Honors) in 1976, Doctor of Philosophy and Diploma of Imperial
College in 1978 (supervising Professor: Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson,
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1973). He was a Postdoctoral Fellow with
Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson from 1978 to 1980 at Imperial College, after
which time he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin.
Other Honors and Awards:
• The University of Texas
at Austin, College of Natural Sciences, Teaching Excellence Award
in Chemistry, 1983
• The 1983 Meldola Medal and
Prize awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry in concurrence
with the Society of Maccabaeans (“Best British Chemist under the
age of 30” award)
• Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow,
1985-87
Research
I am interested in very fundamental questions
of synthesis, structure, and bonding in inorganic and organometallic
chemistry. I have ongoing projects in both main group and transition
metal chemistry which are focused on understanding the properties
of novel compounds at the molecular level. Areas of recent
study range from compounds of relevance to (1) olefin polymerization,
(2) materials chemistry,
and (3) supramolecular
chemistry.
Selected Publications
• “Synthesis and Characterization
of 8-Dimethylamino-1-napthyl Derivatives of Aluminum, Gallium,
and Indium.” G. S. Hair, S. L. Battle. A. Decken, A. H. Cowley,
and R. A. Jones. Inorg. Chem.2000, 39,
27-31.
• “Novel Zwitterionic Complexes
of Ti(IV) via reaction of Lewis Acids M(C6F5)3
(M = B, Al) with a Titanium Diene Complex (η5-C5Me4SiMe2N-t-Bu)Ti(1,3-pentadiene).”
A. H. Cowley, G. S. Hair, B. G. McBurnett, and R. A. Jones. Chem.
Comm.1999, 437-438.
• “Insertion and Coordination
Reactions of Ti(IV) Metallocene Zwitterions.” G. S. Hair,
R. A. Jones, A. H. Cowley, and V. lynch. Organometallics,
2001, 20, 177-181.
• “Group 4 Zwitterionic Metallocenes
Based upon the Bridged Amido-cyclopentadienyl Ligand and Coordinated
Dienes.” G. S. Hair, R. A. Jones, A. H. Cowley, and V. Lynch.
Inorg. Chem.2001, 40, 1014-1019.
• “Nucleophilic Carbene Complexes
of Manganocene.” C. D. Abernethy, A. H. Cowley, R. A. Jones,
C. L. B. Macdonald, P. Shukla, and L. K. Thompson. Organometallics,
2001, 20, 3629-3631.
• “Synthesis and Structures
of 3,5-bis (trifluoromethyl)pyrazolyl Derivatives of Rh(I), Ir(I),
Pd(II) and Pt (II).” Z. Wang, C. D. Abernethy, A. H.
Cowley, J. N. Jones, R. A. Jones, C. L. B. Macdonald, and L.
Zhang. J. Organomet. Chem.2002, 666,
35-42.
• “Synthesis and Structure of
a Novel Supramolecular Zn3Co8 Assembly Containing
a Linear Zn3 Core.” L. Zhang, R. A. Jones, and V.
M. Lynch. Chem. Comm.2002, 2986-2987.
• “Novel Supramolecular Architectures
in Group 13 Perfluoroaryl Complexes, Synthesis and Structures
of [AlMe(C6F5)(µ-Me)]2 and Ga(C6F5)Me2.”
G. S. Hair, A. H. Cowley, J. D. Gorden, J. N. Jones, R. A. Jones,
and C. L. B. Macdonald. Chem. Comm.2003, 424-425.
