Jack D. Dunitz
| Jack Dunitz | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Jack David Dunitz 29 March 1923 Glasgow |
| Alma mater | University of Glasgow |
| Known for | Bürgi–Dunitz angle |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Steuer |
| Awards |
Fellow of the Royal Society (1974) Gregori Aminoff Prize (1990) |
| Website | loc |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions |
ETH Zurich University of Glasgow University of Oxford California Institute of Technology US National Institute of Health Royal Institution |
| Thesis | The crystal and molecular structure of acetylene dicarboxylic acid dihydrate and of diacetylene dicarboxylic acid dihydrate (1946 submitted, accepted 1947) |
| Doctoral advisor | J. Monteath Robertson |
Jack David Dunitz (born 29 March 1923, Glasgow) FRS is a British chemist and widely known chemical crystallographer. He was Professor of Chemical Crystallography at the ETH Zurich from 1957 until his official retirement in 1990. He has held Visiting Professorships in the United States, Israel, Japan, Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom.
In 1953 he married Barbara Steuer and has two daughters Marguerite (1955) and Julia Gabrielle (1957).
Dunitz was educated at Hillhead High School and Hutchesons' Grammar School in Glasgow. He went on to study at the University of Glasgow where he gained his Bachelor of Science degree and Doctor of Philosophy in 1947.
He held research fellowships at Oxford University (1946–1948, 1951–1953), the California Institute of Technology (1948–1951, 1953–1954), the US National Institute of Health, Bethesda MD (1954–1955), and the Royal Institution, London (1956–1957).
Dunitz's main research direction has involved the use of crystal structure analysis as tool for studying chemical problems. In his early pre-ETH period, his work included structure studies of cyclobutane, of ferrocene with the first description of its electronic structure in terms of orbital symmetry relationships. With Orgel he also explained distortions of certain spinel minerals from cubic symmetry in terms of the Jahn-Teller effect. In his later research, at the ETH Zurich and after, Dunitz worked in several areas of structural chemistry, including the conformation and reactivity of medium-ring cycloalkanes and lactams, ion-specificity of natural and synthetic ionophores, chemical reaction paths (see Bürgi-Dunitz angle), aspects of hydrogen bonding, molecular motions in solids, phase transformations and solid-state chemical reactions, electron density distributions in crystals,polymorphism, and intermolecular interactions in condensed phases. A few other publications on mathematical or theoretical topics may be of interest. Dunitz is – or was – also known for Dunitz's Rule: "Almost every scientific publication can be improved by cutting out the first sentence".
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