F. Gordon A. Stone

F. Gordon A. Stone
Born	May 19, 1925 Exeter, Devon, UK
Died	April 6, 2011(2011-04-06) (aged 85) Waco, Texas, USA
Nationality	British and American
Institutions	Bristol University, Baylor University
Alma mater	Cambridge University
Doctoral advisor	Emeléus

Francis Gordon Albert Stone CBE, FRS, FRSC (May 19, 1925 – April 6, 2011) was an English chemist who was a prolific and decorated scholar. He specialized in the synthesis of main group and transition metal organometallic compounds. He received his B.A. in 1948 and Ph.D. in 1951, both from Cambridge University, England, where he studied under Harry Julius Emeléus. He was the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Baylor University until 2010, but his most productive period was as head of Inorganic Chemistry at Bristol University (1963-1990), where he published hundreds of papers over the course of 27 years. In research he competed with his contemporary Geoffrey Wilkinson.

Among the many foci of his studies were complexes of fluorocarbon, isocyanide, polyolefin, alkylidene and alkylidyne ligands. At Baylor, he maintained a research program on boron hydrides, a lifelong interest.^[1]

He authored the autobiographic Leaving No Stone Unturned. With Wilkinson, he edited the influential series Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry. With Robert West, he edited the series Advances in Organometallic Chemistry.

The Gordon Stone Lecture series at the University of Bristol is named in his honour^[2]

Awards

• Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (1970)^[3]
• Fellow of the Royal Society (1976)^[4]
• Chugaev Medal of the Kurnakov Institute (Russian Academy of Sciences) (1978)
• American Chemical Society’s award in Inorganic Chemistry (1985)
• Royal Society of Chemistry’s Sir Edward Frankland Prize Lectureship (1988)
• Royal Society's Davy Medal (1989)
• Royal Society of Chemistry’s Longstaff Medal (1990)
• Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1990)

References

1. ^ Stone, F. G. A.; Emeléus, H. J. "Reaction of diborane with some alkene oxides and vinyl compounds" Journal of the Chemical Society 1950, p. 2755-9.doi:10.1039/JR9500002755
2. ^ http://www.inchm.bris.ac.uk/events_past.htm#stone
3. ^ http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/s/15033/(Francis)%20Gordon%20Albert+STONE.aspx
4. ^ http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2011/7593.html

Further reading

• A.F. Hill (2005). "Protagonists in Chemistry: F. Gordon A. Stone". Inorganica Chimica Acta 358 (5): 1343–1344. doi:10.1016/j.ica.2004.12.001. 
• M. F. Lappert (1995). "Book review; Leaving no stone unturned: Pathways in organometallic chemistry F. Gordon A. Stone". Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 485 (1–2): C23. doi:10.1016/0022-328X(95)90711-M. 

Persondata
Name	Stone, F. Gordon A.
Alternative names	Stone, Francis Gordon Albert
Short description	Chemist
Date of birth	May 19th 1925
Place of birth	Exeter, Devon, UK
Date of death	April 6th 2011
Place of death	Waco, Texas, USA