| RefNo | EC/1972/31 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XIX, 68 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Williams, Robert Joseph Paton: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Description | Citation typed |
| Citation | Dr. Williams has played a leading role in relating the function of metal compounds in biological systems, especially the metalloenzymes, to the electronic structure and reactivity of coordination compounds. He has initiated many fruitful developments - the Irving-Williams series relating stability constants of complexes to ionisation energies; thermal equilibria between complexes in different spin states; use of charge transfer bands in metal chelate spectra and redox potentials to investigate the role of ligand structure in modifying the electron transfer properties of complexes; the invention (with Tiselius) of gradient elution separation methods. He has contributed richly in ideas on the mechanism of catalysis by coordination complexes and has exploited a wide range of techniques for studying these properties in model systems and enzymes, including enzymes based on iron, cobalt, copper and molybdenum complexes. His technique of substituting appropriate paramagnetic ions and Mossbauer-sensitive ions for the ions naturally involved is now extending studies of metal-ligand interaction and reactive site stereochemistry into wider fields, including the role of Mg, Ca, Zn and alkali metals in metalloproteins. This work on the borderline of inorganic chemistry and biochemistry has had a seminal influence. He is the central figure in a vigorous research school and has built up active collaboration with chemists and biochemists in U.S.A. and Europe. |
| AccessStatus | Open |
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Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA2466 | Williams; Robert Joseph Paton (1926 - 2015) | 1926 - 2015 |