text: Is Christopher C. (Kit) Cummins, 40, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the most highly regarded chemist of his generation? His colleagues at MIT certainly make a good case for it.
  In 1998, when Cummins was 32, he won both the ACS Award in Pure Chemistry, which recognizes the achievements of outstanding chemists under 35, and the National Science Foundation's Alan T. Waterman Award, which honors exceptional young researchers in any field of science or engineering. At 33, he was named one of Technology Review's 100 top young innovators. Several other prestigious honors soon followed.
  So what's all the fuss about? For MIT's Stephen J. Lippard, it's all about Cummins' "extraordinary palette of beautiful chemistry, most of it having little or no precedent in the chemical literature."
  Another MIT colleague, Daniel G. Nocera, notes that "Kit revolutionized inorganic chemistry" with the synthesis of three-coordinate metal(III) trisanilide complexes, M[N(t-Bu)Ar]3, where Ar = 3,5-C6H3(CH3)2. These complexes have showcased "some of the most remarkable reactions seen in the field of coordination chemistry in the past two decades," Nocera adds. Included are the activation of N2 and NO to form Mo≡N bonds. In particular, the cleavage of the N≡N bond at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature "led to rapid international acclaim," Nocera points out.
  The splitting of the multiple N-N bond of N2O, as opposed to the N-O bond, was "another remarkable accomplishment, as was his isolation and characterization of the first terminal carbide, Mo≡C," says Nocera. "Kit soon parlayed this knowledge into a route to prepare a compound containing the first terminal M≡P bond and soon thereafter converted the latter into a M-PS compound, thus forming the first P≡S complex ever."
  In addition to these synthetic achievements, Cummins has shed light on how these reactions occur. Most significantly, he has exploited his tricoordinate molybdenum platform to effect alkyne metathesis.
  Another major achievement of the Cummins lab has been its forays into the organometallic chemistry of uranium. For example, the lab has produced remarkable "inverted" uranocene complexes in which two uranium tricoordinate fragments sandwich a cyclooctatetraene ring. "The work is magnificent, pointing to the prominence of δ-bonding in the organometallic chemistry of 4f-block elements," Nocera comments, "and it has ignited a flurry of activity in the community."
  When asked what research accomplishments he's proudest of, Cummins mentions the N2-splitting work and his group's recently reported discovery of complexes that extrude diphosphorus (P2) or its synthetic equivalent under mild conditions (C&EN, Sept. 4, 2006, page 7). The availability of such reactive P2 species "opens up a huge number of avenues for possible research," Cummins says.
  Cummins' interest in organometallic chemistry was sparked as an undergraduate at Middlebury College in Vermont. After getting his B.A. in chemistry under Peter T. Wolczanski at Cornell University, Cummins continued his organometallic studies under Richard R. Schrock at MIT, where he received his Ph.D. in 1993.
  Although Cummins interviewed for a position as assistant professor at several universities including MIT, he accepted MIT's offer, becoming the school's first-and so far only-chemistry graduate to be given a faculty position immediately following his MIT studies.
  At MIT, Cummins' career has soared, and his work has exhibited "a combination of scholarly depth, intellectual insight, and creative virtuosity that is unmatched by others in his age group," says his colleague Gregory L. Hillhouse of the University of Chicago.
  Scenes From The ACS National Meeting In Boston | September 10, 2007 Issue - Vol. 85 Issue 37 | Chemical & Engineering News
  Members of the ACS Board of Directors and international guests gather for the signing of the C6 agreement on sustainability (C&#38;EN, Aug. 13, page 54). From left to right are Giovanni Natile of EuCheMS; Henning Hopf of the German Chemical Society; Executive Director and CEO Madeleine Jacobs; Richard Porte of the Royal Society of Chemistry; Russell J. Boyd of the Canadian Society for Chemistry; Eusebio Juaristi of the Mexican Chemical Society; President-Elect Bruce E. Bursten; President Catherine T. (Katie) Hunt; Board Chair Judith L. Benham; and Immediate Past-President E. Ann Nalley.
  At the Women Chemists Committee luncheon, Hunt (far right) is joined by WCC Chair Amber S. Hinkle (from left), Zafra M. Lerman, keynote speaker Ada E. Yonath, and Hessy Taft.
  Chemistry postdoc Albert K. Korir, of the University of California, Riverside, explains his research during the Academic Employment Initiative at Sci-Mix.
  Children learn about diabetes by testing for glucose in a solution during the Chemistry in Action: Health &#38; Wellness community outreach event at the Museum of Science.
  Sabine Brünger-Weilandt (left), president and CEO of FIZ Karlsruhe, in Germany, visits with Jacobs during the board reception.
  Brian A. Lee, an undergraduate majoring in chemical engineering at Brown University, checks out a process reactor at the exposition.
  Harvard chemist E. J. Corey signs copies of his newest book, "Molecules and Medicine," at the Publications Division/C&#38;EN booth.