Professor Gregory H. Robinson (University of Georgia)

Percy L. Julian Prize Lecture

Talk Title: N-Heterocyclic Carbenes and Dithiolene Radicals: A Counterintuitive Main Group Chemistry Trek

Abstract: This laboratory has long pursued the synthesis, structure, and reactivity of unusual molecules that prominently feature main group elements. These efforts resulted in several significant milestones including the experimental realization of “metalloaromaticity" (the concept that metallic rings may also display traditional aromatic behavior as exhibited by benzene), synthesis of the first molecules containing a boron-boron double bonds—the first “diborenes”, and synthesis of the first molecule containing a triple bond between two main group metals (the gallium analog of acetylene). Research efforts have also concerned carbene-stabilization of highly reactive main group molecules such diphosphorus (P2), diarsenic (As2), and disilicon (Si2). This presentation will prominently feature the efforts of the Robinson Laboratory to synthetically augment the molecular template of N-heterocyclic carbenes and their synthetic conversion to stable dithiolene-based chemical radicals, which have shown promise in the activation of small molecules, such as ammonia.

Biography: Gregory H. Robinson, a native of Anniston, Alabama, began his education attending an underfunded, overcrowded racially segregated elementary school. Both a gifted athlete and a good student, he attended Jacksonville State University on a football scholarship and obtained his B.S. in Chemistry (1980). While at JSU Robinson was a four-year letterman on the Gamecock football team, earning All-Conference and Conference Defensive Player of the Year (1979) accolades. Attending graduate school at The University of Alabama and studying main group synthetic inorganic chemistry in the laboratory of Professor Jerry L. Atwood, Robinson received his Ph.D. (1984). After spending a decade on the faculty of Clemson University, Professor Robinson joined the faculty of The University of Georgia (1995) and now holds the title Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. Professor Robinson’s research, involving the synthesis, structure, and reactivity of unusual molecules that prominently features the main group elements. Research highlights include: (a) experimental realization of the concept of metalloaromaticity—that properly constrained metallic (gallium) ring systems can exhibit traditional aromatic behavior; (b) synthesis of the first compound containing a metal-metal triple-bond between two main group metals (gallium); (c) synthesis of the first compounds containing boron-boron double bonds— the first “diborenes; and (d) carbene-stabilization of highly reactive molecules such as disilicon, diphosphorus, and diarsenic by utilizing Lewis bases (carbenes) as stabilizing templates. Robinson has garnered numerous awards including the Humboldt Research Prize, the Southern Chemist Award, the Lamar Dodd Award (the highest research award of The University of Georgia), and two National Awards of the American Chemical Society: the F. Albert Cotton Award (2013) in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry and the M. Frederic Hawthorne Award (2026) in Main Group Inorganic Chemistry. Professor Robinson is both a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2021) and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2025).