2006 Recipient: R. Graham Cooks
“Kinetic Method for Thermochemical and Structural Investigations”

The 2006 award is presented to Professor Robert Graham Cooks for his development of the “kinetic method” as a tool for ion/molecule studies. In 1977, he and Terry Kruger sent a Communications to the Editor of JACS titled “Intrinsic Basicity Determination Using Metastable Ions”. This introductory work described the measurement of proton affinities based on the competition for a proton by two gas-phase bases. The idea of setting up a competition for charge to determine relative affinity for the charged species could be accomplished using a variety of instruments and ionization modes. Many new spectrometer designs were driven by the value of the kinetic method-related measurements they could provide. A unique contribution of the method was its applicability to organic, organometallic, and inorganic systems inaccessible by other techniques. During the 1980s and 1990s, the kinetic method was applied to gas-phase acidity and basicity; electron, metal ion, and halogen cation affinities; proton affinities of free radicals; and cluster ion structures. In the last five years, the method has seen new biological applications such as the quantitation of chiral drugs. It is notable that Professor Cooks prefaced a recent review article with the Lorenz quote: “…the epidemic delusion that only numerical and measurable reality has validity must be confronted and contradicted.” The increasingly broad applications of this tool to problems ranging from physical chemistry to drug design is a testament to the value of Professor Cooks’ contribution, and his perspective on the balance of measurement and results.