Peet van Rooyen

Prof PH van Rooyen

BSc(Hons), MSc, PhD (RAU)

Molecular Design and Structural Chemistry

E-mail: peet.vanrooyen@up.ac.za
Telephone: 012-420-2519

Peet van Rooyen, Professor.

Previously: Senior researcher at the NCRL, CSIR.

Conformational analyses of the three dimensional shape of molecules, and modelling of molecules using computational methods, are of importance for the appropriate design of new compounds. A modelling study of molecules with related properties may yield information that could lead to the successful design of novel compounds, displaying certain desired molecular and material properties.

The three-dimensional structures of organic and organometallic compounds are determined using single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques, as well as the application of FTIR and FT-Raman, and thermochemical techniques. Currently, this research is focussed mainly on the following two areas:

(a) A number of organic molecular complexes of 4, 4’-dinitrobiphenyl, including other aromatic compounds, produce a variety of colours upon formation of the molecular complexes. Complexes of interest include 4, 4’-dinitrobiphenyl with benzidine, N,N,N'N'-tetramethylbenzidine, 4-hydroxybiphenyl, biphenyl, 4-bromobiphenyl and 4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl.

(b) Some Thallium(I) complexes containing a number of neutral thiourea molecules and a variety of mainly organic anions are studied. A number of these complexes are isostructural in the solid state, and the study of the crystal packing of the different moieties displays interesting arrangement of the anions. Complexes studied includes benzoic acid derivatives substituted with a variety of electron donating and electron withdrawing substituents, as well as bulky groups.

Selected Publications

R Meyer, PL Wessels, PH van Rooyen and S Lotz, "π-Arene Complexes. 11. Site control affected by steric and electronic factors of ring substituents in sigma-pi-coordinated bimetallic complexes." Inorg. Chim. Acta, 284/1, 127 - 132, (1999).
S Francesca Lessing, Simon Lotz, H Marita Roos and Petrus H van Rooyen, "Novel S,O-bridging mode for sulfoxide ligands in a trinuclear ruthenium(II) complex. A new perspective on Ru-sulfoxide chemistry." J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans I, 1499 - 1502, (1999).
SA Bourne, Z He, TA Modro and PH van Rooyen, "Metallation-induced migration of phosphorus from nitrogen to carbon in 1-oxo-2,8-diphenyl-2,5,8-triaza-1λ⁵-phosphabicyclo[3.3.0]octane: unusual bonding parameters of the double migration product." J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 853 - 854, (1999-03-02).
SA Bourne, XY Mbianda, AM Modro, TA Modro, LR Nassimbeni, PH van Rooyen and H Wan, "Structural, Spectroscopic and Reactivity Studies on Phosphoric Amides." Phosphorus, Sulfur and Silicone, 693 - 696, (1999).
M Landman, T Isenburg, PH van Rooyen and S Lotz, "π-Arene Complexes. 12. Synthesis of Chromiumtricarbonyl complexes of quinoline and N-methylindoles and selected metallation reactions." Inorg. Chim. Acta, 310, 147 - 155, (2000).
Simon Lotz, Marilé Landman, Daniela I. Bezuidenhout, Andrew J. Olivier, David C. Liles and Petrus H. van Rooyen, "Metal-metal bond cleavage of carbene complexes by halogens: The crystal and molecular structures of ax-[Mn₂(CO)₉{C(OEt)2-thienyl}], [Mn(CO)₄(I)-{C(OEt)2-thienyl}] and eq-[Mn₂(CO)₉{C(NH₂)2-thienyl}]." J. Organometal. Chem., 690, 5929-5937, (2005).
Daniela I. Bezuidenhout, David C. Liles, Petrus H. van Rooyen and Simon Lotz, "Axial and equatorial carbene ligands of dimanganese and dirhenium monocarbene complexes: Synthesis, characterisation and structural studies." J. Organometal. Chem., 692, 774-783, (2007).

Last updated: 12 January 2007