| Citation | Professor Jack Lewis is one of the most brilliant of the post-war band of English inorganic chemists who have helped to enhance the reputation of this country in the field of modern inorganic chemistry. His contributions fall into four main groups. Firstly, during his training period, he collaborated with Professor C.C. Addison on the chemistry of non-aqueous solvent systems; out of this grew his interest in nitric oxide chemistry where he has made noteworthy original contributions, especially in regard to infra-red spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility. He has also made major contributions to the study of the magnetic properties of transition metal compounds. Indeed, he is now widely accepted as an authority on the relationship between magnetic susceptibility, geometric distortion and electron delocalisation in transition metal compounds.
He has published outstanding work on the purposeful preparative and on the structural side of transition metal chemistry, especially on the subject of metal-to-metal bonding, e.g. the first compounds containing covalent golf - to transition metal bonds.
His recent work at Manchester on metal-to carbon bonds has demonstrated his ability to initiate and carry through to a successful conclusion a new field of research in inorganic chemistry. The thriving inorganic research school at Manchester is a great tribute to this ability. Professor Lewis has published over 100 papers, a list of which is attached herewith. |