Gregory Kubas wins inorganic chemistry award

February 1, 2011—The Fred Basolo Medal for outstanding research in inorganic chemistry was awarded to Gregory Kubas of the Lab's Inorganic, Isotope, and Actinide Chemistry group by Northwestern University and the American Chemical Society's Chicago Section. The award includes an honorarium and an invitation to present a lecture.

Kubas is known for his discovery and characterization of transition metal complexes containing chemically bound hydrogen molecules and is recognized as the founder of an entire field of research (nonclassical bonding of molecular hydrogen to metals and metal compounds). In 2001, Kubas published a monograph entitled "Metal Dihydrogen and Sigma-Bond Complexes: Structure, Theory, and Reactivity." The monograph, which has quickly become the field standard, describes his discovery of dihydrogen coordination and the study of its structure and general properties. It also examines both the theory and experimental results of bonding and activation of dihydrogen on metal centers.

Kubas joined LANL in 1972 as a postdoc, became a technical staff member, and was appointed a Laboratory Fellow in 1987.  He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has received an E.O. Lawrence Award, American Chemical Society Award in Inorganic Chemistry, and the Outstanding Alumnus Award from Case Western Reserve University.