To Interview Prof. Sir Harry Kroto, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in Chemistry
Born 1939 Wisbech Cambridgeshire, educated Bolton School. BSc (First class honours degree Chemistry, 1961) and a PhD (Molecular Spectroscopy, 1964) University of Sheffield. Postdoctoral work at the National Research Council (Ottawa, Canada 1964-66) and Bell Telephone Laboratories (Murray Hill, NJ USA 1966-67); Tutorial Fellow 1967, lecturer 1968, Reader 1977University of Sussex (Brighton) in 1967. He became a professor in 1985 and a Royal Society Research Professor in 1991. In 1996 he was knighted for his contributions to chemistry and later that year, together with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley (of Rice University, Houston, Texas), received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the discovery of C60 Buckminsterfullerene a new form of carbon.
Research fields cover several major topics:
1) (1961-1970) Electronic spectroscopy of free radicals and unstable intermediates in the gas phase, ii) Raman spectroscopy of intermolecular interactions in the liquid phase and iii) Theoretical studies of electronic properties ground and excited states of small molecules and free radicals.
2) (1970-1980) Research focused on the creation of new molecules with multiple bonds between carbon and elements, mainly of the second and third row of the Periodic Table (S, Se and P), which were reluctant to form such a link. These studies showed that many of these previously assumed impossible species could be produced, studied by spectroscopy and used as valuable synthons leading to a wide class of new phosphorus containing compounds. In particular the spectroscopic studies of molecules with carbon-phosphorus multiple bonds (C=P and C?P) were the pioneering studies that initiated the now prolific field of Phosphaalkene/alkyne Chemistry.
3) (1975-1980) Laboratory and radioastronomy studies on long linear carbon chain molecules (the cyanopolyynes) led to the surprising discovery (by radioastronomy) that they existed in interstellar space and also in stars. Since these first observations the carbon chains have become a major area of modern research by molecular spectroscopists and astronomers interested in the chemistry of space.
4) (1985-1990) The revelation (1975-1980) that long chain molecules existed in space could not be explained by the then accepted ideas on interstellar chemistry and it was during attempts to rationalise their abundance that C60 Buckminsterfullerene was discovered. Laboratory experiments at Rice University, which simulated the chemical reactions in the atmospheres of red giant carbon stars, serendipitously revealed the fact that the C60 molecule could self-assemble. This ability to self-assemble has completely changed our perspective on the nanoscale behaviour of graphite in particular and sheet materials in general. The molecule was subsequently isolated independently at Sussex and structurally characterised.
5) (1990-) Present research focuses on Fullerene chemistry and the nanoscale structure of new materials, in particular nanotubes. This has led to a wide range of new nanostructured materials the first insulated nanowires and new perspectives on the mechanism of nanotube formation.
Key collaborations: With D R M Walton (Sussex), T Oka, L Avery, N Broten and J MacLeod (NRC Ottawa) on carbon chain molecules in the laboratory and space; J F Nixon on phosphaalkene/alkyne chemistry (at Sussex); with J P Hare, P R Birkett, A Darwish, M Terrones, W K Hsu, N Grobert, Y Q Zhu, R Taylor and D R M Walton on Fullerene chemistry and nanostructures (at Sussex); with R F Curl, J R Heath, S C O’Brien, Y Liu and R E Smalley (at Rice University Texas) on the discovery of Buckminsterfullerene.
Education:
Chairman of the board of the Vega Science Trust which is produces science programmes for network television. 75 have been made and so far 55 have been broadcast on the BBC Learning Zone educational slot. Member of National Advisory Committee on Cultural and Creative Education.
Scientific Awards, etc:
Tilden Lectureship of the RSC (1981); International Prize for New Materials by the American Physical Society (shared 1992 with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley); Italgas Prize for Innovation in Chemistry (1992); Royal Society of Chemistry Longstaff Medal (1993); Hewlett Packard Europhysics Prize (shared with Wolfgang Kraetschmer, Don Huffman and Richard Smalley 1994); Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1996 (shared with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley); American Carbon Society Medal for Achievement in Carbon Science (shared with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley1997); Blackett Lecturship 1999 (Royal Society); Faraday Award and Lecture 2001 (Royal Society). Dalton Medal 1998 (Manchester Lit and Phil), Erasmus Medal of Academia Europaea, Ioannes Marcus Marci Medal 2000 (Prague) for contributions to molecular spectroscopy.
Fellowships etc:
Fellow of the Royal Society (1990), Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry; President of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2002-2004), Mexican Academy of Science; Member Academia Europaea (1993); Hon. Foreign Member Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) (1997); Hon. Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society (1998); Hon. Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1998); Hon Fellow of the RSC (2000).
Honorary degrees:
Université Libre (Bruxelles), Stockholm (Sweden), Limburg (Belgium), Sheffield, Kingston, Sussex, Helsinki (Finland), Nottingham, Yokohama City (Japan), Sheffield-Hallam, Aberdeen, Leicester, Aveiro (Portugal), Bielefeld Germany), Hull, Manchester Metropolitan, Exeter, Hong Kong City (China), Gustavus Adolphus College (Minnesota, USA), University College London, Patras (Greece), Halifax (NovaScotia, Canada), Strathclyde; Hon Fellowship: Bolton Institute.
Graphic Design:
Graphic design work has resulted in numerous posters, letterheads, logos, book/journal covers, medal design etc. Awards: Sunday Times Book Jacket Design competition (1964) and more recently the Moet Hennessy/Louis Vuitton Science pour l’Art Prize (1994). Citation in the international design annual “Modern Publicity” (1979) for the cover of “Chemistry at Sussex”
TV/Internet Science Programmes:
Prix Leonardo Bronze Medal (2001); Chemical Industries Association (Presidents prize short list1998 and 1999)