Peter Maitlis

Peter Michael Maitlis, FRS (15 January 1933 – 18 May 2022) was a British organometallic chemist.

Early life and education Maitlis was born on 15 January 1933, in Berlin and educated at Hendon School (then Hendon County School) in north London 1944–50. He was awarded a Bachelor's degree in Science from the University of Birmingham, and a PhD (1956, studying under Professor Michael J. S. Dewar, who helped to develop the Dewar–Chatt–Duncanson model for bonding in organometallic compounds) and a DSc (1970) from the University of London.

While working and teaching at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (1962–1972), he rose from assistant professor to a full professorship. Returning to the United Kingdom in 1972, Maitlis was a professor of chemistry at the University of Sheffield for 30 years until his appointment as an emeritus professor in 2002. which were "widely recognised as the most authoritative account of the organo-complexes of this metal". The citation highlights his work on the platinum group metals palladium, rhodium and iridium.

Achievements in organometallic chemistry

Isocyanides can serve as ligands in co-ordination chemistry as a result of the lone electron pair on carbon, and are especially useful with metals in the 0, +1, and +2 oxidation states. In particular, Maitlis has demonstrated that tert-butyl isocyanide can stabilise metals in unusual oxidation states, such as palladium(I) in the complex [(t-BuNC)2Pd(μ-Cl)]2.

Metallomesogens Metallomesogens are "metal complexes of organic ligands which exhibit liquid crystalline (mesomorphic) character [and thus they] combine the variety and range of metal-based coordination chemistry with the extraordinary physical properties exhibited by liquid crystals."

Personal life Maitlis was Jewish. He was the father of the journalist and newsreader Emily Maitlis, and the psychologist and academic Sally Maitlis.

He died on 18 May 2022, at the age of 89.

Most cited publications The following list shows the top 10 most cited journal articles by Maitlis according to Web of Science data. The number of citations indicated is current as at 10 July 2025:

--- 674 citations --- 583 citations --- 497 citations Maitlis, P. M.; Haynes, A.; Sunley, G. J.; Howard, M. J. (1996). "Methanol Carbonylation Revisited: Thirty Years On". J. Chem.Soc., Dalton Trans. (11): 2187–2196. doi:10.1039/dt9960002187. --- 305 citations --- 274 citations --- 253 citations --- 249 citations --- 241 citations --- 231 citations Maitlis, P. M. (1981). "Eta-5-Cyclopentadienyl and eta-6-Arene as Protecting Ligands Towards Platinum-Metal Complexes". Chem. Soc. Rev. 10 (1): 1–48. doi:10.1039/cs9811000001. --- 213 citations