The Aminoff Prize 2013 - Bankkaufmann

Stockholm (ots/PRNewswire) -

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS) has awarded the
Gregori Aminoff Prize in Crystallography 2013 to:

Carlo Gatti
Institute of Molecular Sciences and Technology, Italian National Research Council
(CNR-ISTM)
Milan, Italy
and
MarkSpackman
University of Western Australia
Crawley, Australia

"for developing experimental and theoretical methods to study
electron density in crystals, and using them to determine molecular
and crystalline properties".

Nature of crystals measured by X-rays and interpreted in Italy
and Australia

Crystallography is the science of the arrangement of atoms in
solid materials. To reveal the atomic structure of a crystal, an
'X-ray diffraction method' may be used. In this method an X-ray beam
strikes a crystal, showing a diffraction pattern that, in turn, can
be transformed into a 3D model of the crystal. This technique is now
widely used in geology, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and
materials engineering. Purposes include determining mineral
properties, proteins and DNA structures, and developing strong new
materials.

Both Carlo Gatti and Mark Spackman have independently developed
concepts for interpreting electron density distributions related to
quantum chemistry theory, using multipole analysis of high-quality
X-ray diffraction data. This approach has, in particular,
significantly demonstrated and quantified the role of hydrogen
bonding in molecular systems. 'Charge density topology' is important
for classification of the type and strength of chemical bonding in
solid compounds and molecules.

Read more about the Laureates' research at http://kva.se

The Prize will be awarded at the Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences' Annual Meeting on 5 April 2013.

Prize amount: SEK 100,000, to be shared equally between the
Laureates.

THE LAUREATES

Carlo Gatti, Italian citizen. Born in 1954. PhD in Chemistry
(1978) at University of Milan. Senior Research Scientist at Institute
of Molecular Sciences and Technology, Italian National Research
Council (CNR-ISTM), Italy.

http://www.istm.cnr.it/~gatti

Mark Spackman, Australian citizen. Born in 1954. PhD in
Theoretical Chemistry (1989) at University of Western Australia.
Wintrop Professor and Head of school at the School of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, University of Western Australia, Australia.

http://www.uwa.edu.au/people/mark.spackman

Press contact
Annika Moberg, Communications officer, RSAS, +46-8-6739522, +46-70-6739690,
annika.moberg@kva.se
Experts from the Prize committee
Sven Lidin, Professor of Inorganic chemistry, Lund University, +46-46-2224769,
+46-72-7291030, sven.lidin@polymat.lth.se
Hans Annersten, Professor em. of Mineral chemistry and petrology, Uppsala University,
+46-18-4712550, +46-70-3304939, hans.annersten@geo.uu.se

ots Originaltext: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences - Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien (KVA)
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de