Dr Adrian Chaplin - 2023 Dalton mid-career Prize: Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Prize winner

Dr Adrian Chaplin FRSC

Winner: 2023 Dalton mid-career Prize: Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Prize

University of Warwick

For contributions to organometallic chemistry involving the imaginative use of pincer ligands.

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Our work is challenge driven, but largely fundamental in nature so I am particularly pleased that such basic science is acknowledged as it is vital to support technological applications in the long-term that are not necessarily predictable.

Dr Chaplin’s research is based on molecular compounds of the transition metals and understanding how they can be used in chemical synthesis. His research group are working on the activation and transformation of alkanes and nitrous oxide. These are abundant, but challenging, reagents to use in catalysis in an energy efficient manner. Methane and nitrous oxide are also potent greenhouse gases and their use in chemical manufacture is desirable from a remediation perspective.

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Dr Adrian B Chaplin is an Associate Professor (Reader) at the University of Warwick. He grew up in New Zealand and carried out his undergraduate degree at Massey University. He then relocated to Switzerland to carry out his PhD under the supervision of Professor Paul Dyson at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He spent four years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford in the group of Professor Andrew Weller (now University of York), holding the RJP Williams Junior Research Fellowship at Wadham College for two years.

Adrian began his independent career at Warwick following the award of a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in 2011. He received the RSC Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize in 2015. In 2020, he was promoted to his current position. His group’s work is based on the synthetic organometallic chemistry of the late transition metals and encompasses fundamental aspects of structure and bonding, mechanism elucidation, reaction discovery, and catalyst design.

Q&A

Tell us about somebody who has inspired or mentored you in your career.

Earlier on it was Dr Andrew "Buck" Rogers, who was my summer vacation supervisor at the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute and encouraged me to apply for a PhD in Switzerland. Later, my postdoc supervisor Professor Andrew Weller was decisive in honing my research approach and is responsible for my interest in the organometallic chemistry of rhodium and iridium. More recently, it’s my wife and kids who inspire me to continue to do what I do and remind me of the importance of a work-life balance.

What motivates you?

In terms of chemistry, I am motivated by solving challenging problems as well as by the possibility of serendipitously discovering and exploiting unexpected findings. As the German-American rocket scientist Werner von Braun once said, "Research is what I do when I don't know what I'm doing".

What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?

That the world needs more people like them and to encourage them to think big, embrace challenge, and not be afraid to think outside of the box or question the status quo.

Why is chemistry important?

It's the central science and ultimately at the heart of overcoming global imperatives in sustainability and realisation of a carbon-negative society.