:F. Albert Cotton

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Frank Albert Cotton

| image = F. Albert Cotton bio photo.jpg

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| caption = Cotton in August 2005

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|04|09}}

| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|02|20|1930|04|09}}

| death_place = College Station, Texas, U.S.

| residence =

| fields = Inorganic Chemistry

| workplaces = Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Texas A&M University

| alma_mater = Harvard University

| doctoral_advisor = Geoffrey Wilkinson

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| notable_students = {{Plainlist|

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| known_for = Metal-Metal Bonding

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| influenced =

| awards = William H. Nichols Medal (1975)
National Medal of Science (1982)
NAS Award in Chemical Sciences (1990)
Priestley Medal (1998)
Wolf Prize (2000)
FRS

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Frank Albert Cotton FRS (April 9, 1930 – February 20, 2007){{Cite journal | last1 = Chisholm | first1 = M. H. | last2 = Lord Lewis Of Newnham | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2008.0003 | title = Frank Albert Cotton. 9 April 1930 -- 20 February 2007 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume = 54 | pages = 95–115 | year = 2008 | doi-access = free }} was an American chemist. He was the W.T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Chair and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University. He authored over 1600 scientific articles. Cotton was recognized for his research on the chemistry of the transition metals.

Early life and education

Cotton, known as "Al" Cotton, or "F Albert" on publications, was born on April 9, 1930, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended local public schools before attending Drexel University and then Temple University, both in Philadelphia. After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from Temple in 1951, Cotton pursued a Ph.D. thesis under the guidance of Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson at Harvard University where he worked on metallocenes.{{Cite journal | last1 = Wilkinson | first1 = G. | last2 = Pauson | first2 = P. L. | last3 = Cotton | first3 = F. A. | journal = Journal of the American Chemical Society | volume = 76 | issue = 7 | pages = 1970–1974 | year = 1954 | doi = 10.1021/ja01636a080 | title = Bis-cyclopentadienyl Compounds of Nickel and Cobalt| bibcode = 1954JAChS..76.1970W }} He received his Ph.D. in 1955.

Career

Following his graduation from Harvard University, Cotton began teaching at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1961, at 31-years-old, he became the youngest person to have received a full professorship at MIT. His work emphasized both electronic structure and chemical synthesis. He pioneered the study of multiple bonding between transition metal atoms, starting with research on rhenium halides,{{Cite journal | last1 = Bertrand | first1 = J. A. | last2 = Cotton | first2 = F. A. | last3 = Dollase | first3 = W. A. | journal = Journal of the American Chemical Society | volume = 85 | issue = 9 | pages = 1349–1350 | year = 1963 | doi = 10.1021/ja00892a029 | title =The Metal-Metal Bonded, Polynuclear Complex Anion in CsReCl₄ | bibcode = 1963JAChS..85.1349B }} and in 1964 identified the quadruple bond in the Potassium octachlorodirhenate ion. His work soon focused on other metal-metal bonded species,Cotton, F. A.; Walton, R. A. "Multiple Bonds Between Metal Atoms" Oxford (Oxford): 1993. {{ISBN|0-19-855649-7}}. elucidating the structure of chromium(II) acetate.

He was an early proponent of single crystal X-ray diffraction as a tool for elucidating the extensive chemistry of metal complexes. Through his studies on clusters, he demonstrated that many exhibited "fluxionality", whereby ligands interchange coordination sites on spectroscopically observable time-scales. He coined the term "hapticity" and the nomenclature that derives from it.

In 1962 he undertook the crystal structure of the Staphylococcal nuclease enzyme,{{cite journal |vauthors=Cotton FA, ((Hazen EE Jr)), Richardson DC |title=Crystalline extracellular nuclease of Staphylococcal nuclease |year=1966 |journal=Journal of Biological Chemistry |volume=241 |pages=4389–4390|doi=10.1016/S0021-9258(18)99732-2 |doi-access=free }} solved to 2Å resolution in 1969, published in 1971,{{cite journal | last1=Arnone | first1=A. | last2=Bier | first2=C.J. | last3=Cotton | first3=F.A. | last4=Day | first4=V.W. | last5=Hazen | first5=E.E. | last6=Richardson | first6=D.C. | last7=Richardson | first7=J.S. | last8=Yonath | first8=A. | title=A High Resolution Structure of an Inhibitor Complex of the Extracellular Nuclease of Staphylococcus aureus | journal=Journal of Biological Chemistry | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=246 | issue=7 | year=1971 | issn=0021-9258 | doi=10.1016/s0021-9258(19)77221-4 | pages=2302–2316| doi-access=free }} and deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB code 1SNS) as one of the first dozen protein crystal structures.{{cite journal |vauthors=Richardson JS, Richardson DC |title=Studying and Polishing the PDB's Macromolecules |journal=Biopolymers |doi=10.1002/bip.22108 |pmid=23023928 |pmc=3535681 |volume=99 |issue=3 |date=Mar 2013 |pages=170–82}}

In 1972 Cotton moved to Texas A&M University as the Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry. The following year he was named the Doherty-Welch Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. He also served as the director of the university's Laboratory for Molecular Structure and Bonding.{{cite news| title =Internationally Prominent Chemist Dr. F. Albert Cotton Passed Away Tuesday At Age 76| publisher =Texas A&M University| date =2007-02-21| url =http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2007/02/21/internationally-prominent-chemist-dr-f-albert-cotton-passed-away-tuesday-at-age-76/| access-date =2011-01-26| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100717064119/http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2007/02/21/internationally-prominent-chemist-dr-f-albert-cotton-passed-away-tuesday-at-age-76/| archive-date =2010-07-17}}

Pedagogical influence

In addition to his research, Cotton taught inorganic chemistry. He authored Chemical Applications of Group Theory.Cotton, F. A., Chemical Applications of Group Theory, John Wiley & Sons: New York, (1st ed. 1963, 3d ed. 1990). {{ISBN|0-471-51094-7}} This text focuses on group theoretical analysis of bonding and spectroscopy.

Among college students, Cotton is perhaps best known as the coauthor of the textbook Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, now in its sixth English edition.[http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471199575.html Wiley: Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, 6th Edition] Coauthored with his thesis advisor, Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson, and now with coauthors Carlos Murillo and Manfred Bochmann, the textbook is colloquially known as "Cotton and Wilkinson." The text surveys coordination chemistry, cluster chemistry, homogeneous catalysis, and organometallic chemistry.{{cite news | title =Professor F Albert Cotton | publisher = The Daily Telegraph | date = 2007-03-02 | url =https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1544265/Professor-F-Albert-Cotton.html | access-date = 2018-04-27}}Cotton, F. A. and Wilkinson, G., Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, John Wiley and Sons: New York, (1st ed. 1962, 6th ed. 1999). {{ISBN|978-0-471-19957-1}}

Cotton served on various editorial boards of scientific journals, including those of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Inorganic Chemistry, and Organometallics. He chaired the Division of Inorganic Chemistry of the ACS and was an ACS Councillor for five years. He served on the U.S. National Science Board (1986–1998), which oversees the National Science Foundation, and the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of Argonne National Laboratory, and the National Research Laboratory Commission of Texas.

Cotton supervised the thesis research of 116 doctoral students as well as more than 150 postdoctoral associates.[http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/mar252007/844.pdf Obituary in Current Science 92, 844 (25 March 2007)]

Recognition

Among the awards Cotton received included the U.S. National Medal of Science in 1982,[https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.cfm?recip_id=90 National Science Foundation – The President's National Medal of Science] the Wolf Prize in 2000; and the Priestley Medal, the American Chemical Society's highest recognition, in 1998.

In 1995, the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M along with the local section of the American Chemical Society, inaugurated the annual F.A. Cotton Medal for excellence in chemical research.

A second award named in his honor, the F. Albert Cotton Award for Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry,{{cite web|url=https://www.acs.org/funding/awards/cotton-award-in-synthetic-inorganic-chemistry.html|title=F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry |publisher = American Chemical Society}} is presented at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society each year.

Cotton was a member of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, and the corresponding academies in Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, and Denmark, as well as the American Philosophical Society. He received twenty-nine honorary doctorates.

Run for ACS presidency

Cotton caused a controversy in his run for President of the American Chemical Society for 1984, wherein he mailed a letter to selected members describing his opponent as "a mediocre industrial chemist".{{cite book |last1=Hargittai |first1=Istvan |title=Candid Science: Conversations With Famous Chemists |date=26 January 2000 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-1-78326-214-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_u3CgAAQBAJ |pages=241–242 |access-date=10 April 2022 |language=en}} Cotton ultimately lost the bid to his opponent Dr. Warren D. Niederhauser of Rohm & Haas.{{cite news |title=Niederhauser Serves as ACS President-elect |url=https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/FKUSETKZ4Q5WZ87 |access-date=10 April 2022 |work=Badger Chemist Newsletter |issue=30 |publisher=UW-Madison Libraries |date=30 November 1983}}

F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research

The F.A. Cotton Medal, established in 1994, is awarded annually by the Texas A&M Section of the American Chemical Society to recognize accomplishments in research rather than distinction of any other sort, no matter how meritorious. The award is sponsored by the F. Albert Cotton Endowment Fund, which was initially raised by Carlos A. Murillo in honor of Frank Albert Cotton, to whom the first medal was awarded in 1995. The recipient receives, in addition to the medal, a bronze replica thereof and a certificate describing the award.{{cite web|url=http://www.chem.tamu.edu/medals+lectureships/cotton-medal/|title=F. A. Cotton Medal for Excellence Chemical Research|publisher= Texas A&M Section of the American Chemical Society|access-date= 2 February 2017}}

Prize Winners of F. A. Cotton Medal

Source: [http://www.chem.tamu.edu/medals+lectureships/cotton-medal/ Texas A&M Section of the American Chemical Society]

1995 F. Albert Cotton, Texas A&M University
1996 George A. Olah, University of Southern California
1997 Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris, Collège de France
1998 JoAnne Stubbe, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1999 Alexander Pines, University of California, Berkeley
2000 Tobin J. Marks, Northwestern University
2001 Samuel J. Danishefsky, Columbia University
2002 Ada Yonath, Weizmann Institute of Science
2003 Gabor A. Somorjai, University of California, Berkeley
2004 Albert Eschenmoser, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, and Scripps Research Institute
2005 Richard H. Holm, Harvard University
2006 Robin M. Hochstrasser, University of Pennsylvania
2007 Jacqueline K. Barton, California Institute of Technology
2008 Chi-Huey Wong, Scripps Research Institute, and National Taiwan University
2009 Richard N. Zare, Stanford University
2010 Peter J. Stang, University of Utah
2011 George M. Whitesides, Harvard University
2012 R. Graham Cooks, Purdue University
2013 Brian M. Hoffman, Northwestern University
2014 K. Barry Sharpless, Scripps Research Institute
2015 Douglas C. Rees, California Institute of Technology
2016 Stephen J. Lippard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2017 Jennifer A. Doudna, University of California, Berkeley{{Cite web |url=http://www.science.tamu.edu/news/story.php?story_ID=1768 |title=F.A. Cotton Medal 2017 |access-date=2017-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407150004/http://www.science.tamu.edu/news/story.php?story_ID=1768#.WOemZWekLcs |archive-date=2017-04-07 |url-status=dead }}
2018 Harry B. Gray, California Institute of Technology
2019 A. Paul Alivisatos, University of California, Berkeley
2020 Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Stanford University
2021 (no prize awarded)
2022 Cynthia M. Friend, Kavli Foundation and Harvard University
2023 Daniel G. Nocera, Harvard University
2024 David W.C. MacMillan, Princeton University
2025 Clifford P. Kubiak, University of California, San Diego

Death

Cotton died on February 20, 2007, in College Station, Texas from complications of a head injury he suffered in a fall in October 2006.{{cite news | title = Texas A&M chemist F. Albert Cotton dies at age 76 | publisher = Houston Chronicle | date = 2007-02-20 | url =https://www.chron.com/news/houston-deaths/article/Texas-A-M-chemist-F-Albert-Cotton-dies-at-age-76-1626629.php | access-date = 2007-03-14}} He was survived by his wife, the former Diane Dornacher, whom he married in 1959, and their two daughters, Jennifer and Jane.

The Brazos County Sheriff's Department opened an investigation into his death, describing his death as "suspicious".{{cite news | title = Professor Cotton's death investigated | publisher = The Eagle | date = 2007-04-18 |url =http://www.theeagle.com/news/a_m/professor-cotton-s-death-investigated/article_6ae94cde-757c-5674-a24b-bc7319a73281.html | access-date = 2018-03-06}}