| Citation | Professor R. Mason is distinguished for his investigations of molecular structures and their theoretical interpretation in terms of inter-atomic bonding. Initially his interest centred on electron transfer processes of polycyclic aromatic molecules, followed by the investigation of geometry and bonding in annulenes and the methods of calculation of lattice energies of organic crystals.
However, he is best known for his work on the nature of the metal-to-ligand bond in transition metal complexes, especially in pi-complexes. He has shown that the organic ligand may be treated as stabilized in an excited state by attachment to the metal atom, so accounting for the peculiar geometry and bond distances of many unsaturated ligands in their complexes. A biological interest continues in an investigation of radiation inactivation of enzymes, and recently the detailed structure of ferredoxins. He has shown an ability to choose molecules of topical chemico-theoretical or biological importance, and the explanation of their structural and functional peculiarities in sophisticated theoretical terms. |