Fowler, Patrick W. - University of Sheffield

个人简介

Professor Fowler obtained a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Sheffield in 1977, after which he obtained his PhD in Chemistry from the same university in 1980. He was a SERC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge from 1980 to 1983. In 1984 he became a Senior Demonstrator at the University of Durham, followed by a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Cambridge in 1985. In 1985 he became a Lecturer in Physical Chemistry at the University of Exeter, where he was promoted to Reader in 1990 and Professor in 1995. In 2005 he became professor of Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Sheffield. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2012.

研究领域

Aromaticity: Attribution of aromaticity to a molecule is associated with a loose cluster of criteria based on geometric, energetic and reactivity properties, but one persuasive definition is based on magnetic properties: ability to sustain an induced diatropic ring current. Using modern ipsocentric methods it is possible to perform calculations that map the currents, giving a direct quantitative visualisation of aromaticity and anti-aromaticity, but also explaining the patterns of current in terms of orbitals, energies, nodes and symmetry the standard toolkit of qualitative chemical theory. Our most recent work includes a qualitative `band theory´ of the currents in giant graphite-flake molecules. Two new projects investigate the magnetic response of `exotic carbon nanostructures´, including toroidal and Möbius-twisted carbon (PhD research project of David Bean) and the connection between induced currents and the ballistic currents in single-molecule devices (PhD research project of Tsanka Todorova). We are working on ring-current aspects of the many proposed types of aromaticity, aiming to supply symmetry/topological criteria for each. We have strong collaborations in this area with Physical Organic and Theoretical Chemistry groups in Utrecht, Warsaw, Modena, Salerno and Toulouse. Fullerenes: We are exploring the systematic theoretical chemistry of the fullerenes based on classical chemical ideas e.g. the 60+6k `leapfrog principle´ equivalent of Hückel´s 4n+2 rule. A series of papers and a book, the `Atlas of Fullerenes´ (OUP, now in Dover), have contributed to a comprehensive qualitative theory of the fullerenes using graphs, groups, and discrete mathematics to derive principles for enumeration, geometry, electronic structure, spectroscopic signature, isomerisation, growth & destruction, and reactivity. Rationalisation of stoichiometry, structure, symmetry of species such as fully brominated C60Br24 by purely combinatoric arguments led to our ongoing investigation of `closed-shell independence numbers´. We are collaborating on graph-theoretical aspects of fullerenes with Mathematics and Computer Science groups at the Universities of Ghent, Malta and Victoria (BC). Gas-phase reactions Molecular properties: Two areas of longstanding interest are the properties of weak complexes, modelled using electrostatic and other considerations from the theory of intermolecular forces, and the properties of ions in crystals, where the focus is on computation of the drastic effects of the crystalline environment on electric properties especially of anions, and the interpretation of these changes in terms of electrostatic and overlap models. Interdisciplinary: Group theory as used by chemists has applications in many neighbouring fields. Symmetry generalisations of engineering principles such as Maxwell´s Rule and Mobility Criteria, symmetry aspects of mathematical theorems such as the Euler Theorem, and symmetry in packing and covering problems are being investigated with research collaborators in Cambridge, Leuven and Budapest.

近期论文

查看导师新发文章（温馨提示：请注意重名现象，建议点开原文通过作者单位确认）

Clarke J, Fowler PW, Gronert S & Keeffe JR (2016) Effect of Ring Size and Migratory Groups on [1, n ] Suprafacial Shift Reactions. Confirmation of Aromatic and Antiaromatic Transition-State Character by Ring-Current Analysis. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 81(19), 8777-8788. View this article in WRRO Akpinar B, Fielding LA, Cunningham VJ, Ning Y, Mykhaylyk OO, Fowler PW & Armes SP (2016) Determining the Effective Density and Stabilizer Layer Thickness of Sterically Stabilized Nanoparticles. Macromolecules. View this article in WRRO Gan LH, Lei D & Fowler PW (2016) Structural interconnections and the role of heptagonal rings in endohedral trimetallic nitride template fullerenes.. J Comput Chem, 37(20), 1907-1913. Bašić N, Fowler PW & Pisanski T (2016) Coronoids, patches and generalised altans. Journal of Mathematical Chemistry, 54(4), 977-1009. Fowler PW, Guest SD & Schulze B (2016) Mobility of a class of perforated polyhedra. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 85-86, 105-113. View this article in WRRO Fowler PW, Myrvold W, Jenkinson D & Bird WH (2016) Perimeter ring currents in benzenoids from Pauling bond orders. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 18(17), 11756-11764. Gan LH, Wu R, Tian JL & Fowler PW (2016) An atlas of endohedral Sc2S cluster fullerenes.. Phys Chem Chem Phys. Pickup BT, Fowler PW & Sciriha I (2016) A Hückel source-sink-potential theory of Pauli spin blockade in molecular electronic devices. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 145(20). Gan L-H, Wu R, Tian J-L, Clarke J, Gibson C & Fowler PW (2016) From C 58 to C 62 and back: Stability, structural similarity, and ring current. Journal of Computational Chemistry. Pickup BT, Fowler PW, Borg M & Sciriha I (2015) A new approach to the method of source-sink potentials for molecular conduction. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 143(19), 194105-194105. View this article in WRRO Fowler P (2015) Fullerene stability: One rule for the electron-rich.... Nature Chemistry, 7(11), 857-858. Fowler PW, Nikolić S, De Los Reyes R & Myrvold W (2015) Distributed curvature and stability of fullerenes. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 17(35), 23257-23264. View this article in WRRO