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Professor Leo Radom, FAA

ARC Australian Professorial Fellow

Contact Details

School of Chemistry, Building F11
The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
E-mail address: leo.radom@sydney.edu.au
Telephone: +61-2-9351-2733
Fax: +61-2-9351-3329
Home Page: http://groups.chem.usyd.edu.au/radom/

Career Profile

  • BSc (Hons) (1965), MSc (1966), PhD (1969) University of Sydney

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Carnegie-Mellon University, USA, 1969-1972

  • QE II Fellow, Research School of Chemistry, ANU, 1972-1974

  • Fellow, Senior Fellow, Professorial Fellow, Professor, ANU, 1974- 2003

  • Professor, University of Sydney, 2003-

Awards

  • HG Smith Medal (1988)

  • Election to the Australian Academy of Science (1988)

  • Election to the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science (1988)

  • Schrödinger Medal (1994)

  • Centenary Medal (2003)

  • Fukui Medal (2006)

  • David Craig Medal (2008)

Areas of interest

  • Computational quantum chemistry

  • Free radical chemistry

  • Oxidative damage in biological systems

  • Enzyme-catalyzed reactions

  • Theoretical thermochemistry

  • Development of improved theoretical procedures

  • Chemistry of alkali and alkaline earth metals

  • Hydrogenation

  • Hydrogen bonding

  • Gas-phase ion chemistry

Research

My research group carries out research in the general area of computational quantum chemistry. We use computer calculations to investigate the structures of molecules and the mechanism of reactions in which they are involved. There is particular emphasis on the areas noted above.

Publications (2007 to 2010)

  1. Taylor, MS; Ivanic, SA; Wood, GPF; Easton, CJ; Bacskay, GB and Radom, L. Hydrogen abstraction by chlorine atom from small organic molecules containing amino acid functionalities: An assessment of theoretical procedures. J. Phys. Chem. A, 113 (43), 11817-11832, 2009. [Special issue in honour of Professor Walter Thiel] DOI: 10.1021/jp9029437

  2. Durbeej, B; Sandala, GM; Bucher, D; Smith, DM and Radom, L. On the importance of ribose orientation in the substrate activation of the coenzyme B12-dependent mutases. Chem. Eur. J., 15 (34), 8578-8585, 2009. [Special issue in honour of Professor Itzhak Apeloig] DOI: 10.1002/chem.200901002

  3. Graham, DC; Menon, AS; Goerigk, L; Grimme.S and Radom, L. Optimization and basis-set dependence of a restricted open-shell form of B2-PLYP double-hybrid density functional theory. J. Phys. Chem. A, 113 (36), 9861-9873, 2009. DOI: 10.1021/jp9042864

  4. Mintz, B; Chan, B; Sullivan, MB; Buesgen, T; Scott, AP; Kass, SR; Radom, L and Wilson, AK. Structures and thermochemistry of the alkali metal monoxide anions monoxide radicals and hydroxides. J. Phys. Chem. A, 113 (34), 9501-9510, 2009. DOI: 10.1021/jp9034826

  5. Sandala, GM; Kovacevic, B; Baric, D; Smith, DM and Radom, L. On the reaction of glycerol dehydratase and but-3-ene-1,2-diol. Chem. Eur. J., 15 (19), 4865-4873, 2009. DOI: 10.1002/chem.200802640

  6. O'Reilly, RJ and Radom, L. Ab Initio investigation of the fragmentation of 5,5-diamino-substituted 1,4,2-oxathiazoles. Org. Lett.,11 (6), 1325-1328, 2009. DOI: 10.1021/ol900109b

  7. Zhong, G; Chan, B and Radom, L. Low barrier hydrogenolysis of the carbon-heteroatom bond as catalyzed by HAlF4. Org. Lett., 11 (3), 749-751, 2009. DOI: 10.1021/ol802826h

  8. Chan, B; Del Bene, JE and Radom, L. What factors determine whether a proton-bound homodimer has a symmetric or an asymmetric hydrogen bond? Mol. Phys.,107 (8-12), 1095-1105, 2009. [Special issue in honour of Professor H.F. Schaefer III] DOI: 10.1080/00268970902740571

  9. Menon, AS and Radom, L. Consequences of spin contamination in unrestricted calculations on open-shell species: Effect of Hartree-Fock and Møller-Plesset contributions in hybrid and double-hybrid density functional theory approaches. J. Phys. Chem. A, 112 (50), 13225-13230, 2008. [Special issue in honour of Professor Sason Shaik]. DOI: 10.1021/jp803064k

  10. Wood, GPF; Gordon, MS; Radom, L and Smith, DM. Nature of glycine and its alpha-carbon radical in aqueous solution: A theoretical investigation. J. Chem. Theory Comput., 4 (10), 1788-1794, 2008. DOI: 10.1021/ct8002942

  11. Sandala, DM; Smith, DM and Radom, L. The carbon-skeleton rearrangement in tropane alkaloid biosynthesis. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 130 (32), 10684-10690, 2008. [Highlighted in Chem. Aust., 75 (11), 32–33 (2008)] DOI: 10.1021/ja801869a

  12. Chan, B and Radom, L. Zeolite-catalyzed hydrogenation of carbon dioxide and ethene. Am. Chem. Soc., 130 (30), 9790-9799, 2008. [Highlighted in Chem. Aust., 75 (10), 32 (2008)] DOI: 10.1021/ja800840q

  13. Tian, Z; Chan, B, Sulliva, MB; Radom, L and Kass, SR. Lithium monoxide anion: A ground-state triplet with the strongest base to date. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 105 (22), 7647-7651, 2008. [Highlighted in Chem. Aust., 75 (9), 38 (2008)] DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0801393105

  14. Menon, AS; Wood, GPF, Moran, D and Radom, L. Bond dissociation energies and radical stabilization energies: An assessment of contemporary theoretical procedures. J. Phys. Chem. A, 111 (51), 13638-13644, 2007. DOI: 10.1021/jp076521r

  15. Merrick, JP; Moran, D and Radom, L. An evaluation of harmonic vibrational frequency scale factors. J. Phys. Chem. A, 111 (45), 11683-11700, 2007. DOI: 10.1021/jp073974n

  16. Chan, B; Del Bene, JE and Radom, L. Proton-bound homodimers: How are the binding energies related to proton affinities? J. Am. Chem. Soc., 129 (40), 12197-12199, 2007. DOI: 10.1021/ja072690d

  17. Chan, B and Radom, L. Uncatalyzed transfer hydrogenation of quinones and related systems: A theoretical mechanistic study. J Phys. Chem. A, 111 (28), 6456-6467,2007. DOI: 10.1021/jp072837n

  18. Zhong, G, Chan, B and Radom, L. Uncatalyzed 1,4-hydrogenation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: A computational study. Theochem, 811 (1-3), 13-17, 2007. DOI: 10.1016/j.theochem.2007.02.030

  19. Sandala, GM; Smith, DM; Marsh, ENG and Radom, L. Toward an improved understanding of the glutamate mutase system. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 129 (6), 1623-1633, 2007. [Highlighted in Chem. Aust., 74 (5), 32 (2007)]. DOI: 10.1021/ja066432c

  20. Zhong, G; Chan, B and Radom, L. Hydrogenation of simple aromatic molecules: A computational study of the mechanism. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 129 (4), 924-933,2007. [Highlighted in Chem. Aust., 74 (4), 31-32 (2007)]. DOI: 10.1021/ja066251a

  21. Sandala, GM, Smith, DM and Radom, L. In search of radical intermediates in the reactions catalyzed by lysine 2,3-aminomutase and lysine 5,6-aminomutase. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128 16004-16005, 2006. [Highlighted in Chem. Aust., 74 (3), 29-30 (2007)].

Selected Publications

The Planar Carbon Story, L. Radom and D.R. Rasmussen, Pure Appl. Chem., 70, 1977-1984 (1998).

Harmonic Vibrational Frequencies: An Evaluation of Hartree Fock, Møller-Plesset, Quadratic Configuration Interaction, Density Functional Theory and Semiempirical Scale Factors, A.P. Scott and L. Radom, J. Phys. Chem., 100, 16502 (1996).

Chemistry by Computer: A Theoretical Approach to Gas-Phase Ion Chemistry, L. Radom, Organic Mass Spectrom., 26, 359-373 (1991).

Ab Initio Molecular Orbital Theory, W.J. Hehre, L. Radom, P.v.R. Schleyer and J.A. Pople, Wiley, New York, pp 1-548 (1986).