Christopher C. Cummins

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Christopher Colin Cummins , called Kit Cummins , (born February 28, 1966 in Boston , Massachusetts ) is an American chemist ( inorganic chemistry , complex chemistry ) and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Cummins grew up in New Orleans and Bloomington (Minnesota) and studied at Stanford University and Cornell University , where he was in the group of Peter T. Wolczanski (first publication 1988). In 1989 he received his bachelor's degree and went to MIT, where he received his doctorate with Richard R. Schrock in 1993 (Dissertation Synthetic Investigations Featuring Amidometallic Complexes , on synthesis of block copolymers). He was then assistant professor from 1993 and professor at MIT from 1996.

He is concerned with the design of ligands in complex chemistry with the aim of novel inorganic syntheses and reactions and new catalysts. The focus is on reactions, especially with small molecules such as N 2 , CO 2 , O 2 , H 2 , CO, P 4 . In particular, he found a way to break the strong triple bond of the nitrogen molecule in N 2 at room temperature and normal pressure . His group synthesized AsP 3 in its pure form and studied the chemistry of P 2 , AsP, and PN as ligands and reactive intermediates. They also used synthetic methods of organic chemistry such as protecting groups .

His group is working on inexpensive methods of reducing carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide with metal nitrides and reversible sequestration of CO 2 . Another area is uranium in low oxidation states (multiple bonds to nitrogen or carbon, with possible uses as a catalyst).

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (since 2008), the National Academy of Sciences (since 2017) and a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . Cummins received the Alan T. Waterman Award in 1998, the American Chemical Society Award in Pure Chemistry in 1998 , a TR100 Award from MIT, the E. Bright Wilson Prize at Harvard, the Sackler Prize in 2007 , the ACS F. Albert Cotton Award from ACS and a Humboldt Research Award , as well as the Linus Pauling Award in 2017 .

In 2001 he received the Dannie Heineman Prize for fundamental work on the activation of small molecules by metal complexes and on the isolation of reactive intermediates in these reactions and on the characterization of crucial reaction steps in atom transfer reactions mediated by metal complexes (laudation).

From 1995 to 2000 he was a Packard Fellow and from 1997 to 2000 a Sloan Research Fellow .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ biographical data, publications and Academic pedigree of Christopher Colin Cummins at academictree.org, accessed on 28 January 2018th
  2. ^ MIT Technology Review, Innovators under 35 , 2013
personal data
SURNAME Cummins, Christopher C.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cummins, Christopher Colin (full name); Cummins, Kit
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American chemist
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston , Massachusetts