It is with much sadness that we record the death of Peter Boyd, a member of staff at the Department of Chemistry, University of Auckland, from his appointment in 1978 until his retirement in 2014. Peter passed away on 20 May 2024 at his home in Tasmania, succumbing to a virulent cancer. He taught in the areas of inorganic and quantum chemistry and did internationally recognised research in these areas. He was particularly acclaimed for his discovery of porphyrin-fullerene assemblies, now of great interest for their application as photosystem models and as light harvesters.
Peter graduated BSc (Hons, 1st Class), University of Tasmania (supervisor Peter Smith), in 1968 and PhD, Monash University (supervisor John Pilbrow), in 1972. His BSc and PhD research mainly focused on the study of the electronic properties of transition metal compounds by electron spin resonance spectroscopy and formed the basis of his lifetime interest in transition metal chemistry. As a result of his excellent work in this area he was awarded a Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Overseas Postdoctoral Scholarship, for study at Cambridge University with Malcolm Gerloch, 1972-1974. There he extended his studies of electronic structure and magnetism of inorganic compounds to include magnetic susceptibility and electron spin-spin interactions and was a co-author of the Chemical Society Specialist Periodical Report on these subjects in 1980 and 1982. He returned to Australia, first as Queen Elizabeth II Fellow, and then as Research Fellow, 1975 - 1978, with Ray Martin at the Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University. There he carried out further research on spin-spin interactions, focusing on copper(II) and nickel(II) complexes.
In 1978 Peter was appointed Lecturer in Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry, University of Auckland, to teach and carry out research in the areas of inorganic and quantum chemistry. His research is characterised by an unusual convergence of creativity in synthetic chemistry with exceptional application of theory. He introduced the technique of spectroelectrochemisry to the Department, combining his expertise in electron spin resonance spectroscopy with his knowledge of nickel(II) chemistry to study the formation and properties of nickel(I) complexes whose properties were largely unknown due to the relative instability of nickel in this unusually low oxidation state. His quantum chemistry research started with studies of bonding and nuclear quadrupole coupling in a variety of inorganic compounds using a new computational method that employed a mathematical procedure with the appealing name “muffin tin approximation”. This work, carried out with Graham Bowmaker, provided insight into the detailed interpretation of the results of nuclear quadrupole resonance measurements, the only form of solid-state NMR available in the Department at that time. The application of novel computational methods continued with calculations carried out with postdoctoral fellow Peter Schwerdtfeger. These showed that apparently anomalous trends in the properties of coinage group metal compounds could be attributed to relativistic effects in the electronic properties of compounds of heavy elements such as gold. Other areas of application of computational methods included bonding in tungsten acetylene complexes, IR spectra of radical cations, NMR chemical shift calculations, short strong low barrier hydrogen bonds, electron transfer in di-heme peroxidases, fullerene-porphyrin dispersive interactions and small molecule activation using transition metal complexes.
In the later phase of his career, Peter made remarkable and widely acclaimed discoveries in supramolecular fullerene chemistry. The resulting assemblies have long-lived photo-induced charge separated states so are of great interest as the light-harvesting element of organic solar cells. New research in the area of supramolecular fullerene chemistry was initiated during a period of study leave (1994) at the University of Southern California with Professor Chris Reed. At this time macroscopic amounts of fullerenes had only been available for a short time and much of the chemistry and the properties of fullerenes were just being discovered. Whilst synthesizing fullerene derivatives attached to planar porphyrin molecules Peter discovered that fullerenes and porphyrins are naturally attracted to each other. Making extensive use of X-ray crystallography, he showed that in a wide range of solid state co-crystallates, there is an unusually close approach of the curved surface of the fullerene to the centre of a planar porphyrin, and that this interaction persists in solution. He used this new supramolecular recognition element to engineer a wide range of hosts for fullerene guests and established the correct theoretical basis for understanding the attraction. Recognition of this work is exemplified by a highly-cited invited article, “Fullerene-Porphyrin Constructs” in “Molecular Architectures”, a Special 2005 Issue of Accounts of Chemical Research.
Peter is survived by his wife Maruta (who came to Auckland from Canada as a postdoctoral fellow), his son Patrick and daughter-in-law Rachel. In his retirement, he built an extraordinarily beautiful and extensive garden of rhododendra. He was a much-valued colleague and close friend of many of the staff in the Chemistry Department. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
