Malcolm Harold Chisholm. 15 October 1945 — 20 November 2015. (31st December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Puddephatt, Richard J.
• Is Part Of: Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. Volume 63(2017)
• Page Start: 117
• Page End: 136
• Publication Date: 2017-12-31
• Subjects: Scientists -- Obituaries -- Periodicals; Scientists -- Great Britain -- Obituaries -- Periodicals; Biography -- Periodicals; 509.2241
• DOI: 10.1098/rsbm.2016.0025
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0080-4606

Abstract

Abstract : Malcolm Chisholm was one of the most creative and distinguished inorganic chemists of his generation. He was particularly renowned for his chemistry of compounds containing multiple metal–metal bonds and for showing how they could give insights into catalysis or be used in functional materials. Very early in his independent career he reported the remarkable compounds M2 X6, with M = molybdenum or tungsten and X = alkoxide or dialkylamide, which contain metal–metal triple bonds, and his group showed how they could activate organic compounds in unusual ways, often with changes in the metal–metal bond order. He was a master of synthetic chemistry, but he also made notable discoveries in theory, spectroscopy and catalysis. Personally, he was outgoing, friendly and fun-loving. He was faithful and supportive of his family, students, colleagues and his many friends around the globe, and took great pleasure in their successes.