Jennifer Green’s research concerns fundamental study of electronic structure and bonding in inorganic molecules, particularly those of the transition metals. Her work applying the use of photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) to such systems has demonstrated the wealth and depth of quantitative information to be obtained on bonding by this technique. Pioneering work using synchrotron radiation exploited the variation of PE band intensity with photon energy to obtain an in depth understanding of ionisation processes. Study of photoionisation cross-sections for a wide variety of molecules enabled secure assignments for problematic systems and the identification of spatial characteristics for ionising electrons. Interpretation of the results in the framework of molecular orbital theory has played a pivotal role in the development of bonding models in the areas of organometallic chemistry, metal-metal bonding and cluster chemistry. Density functional calculations successfully model the experimental results and have been used to investigate structure-activity relationships in for example metallocene chemistry, C-H activation, molecular rearrangements and other processes fundamental to the understanding of transition metal catalyst intermediates. The utility of these methods have led to a significant number of fruitful collaborations with synthetic groups both nationally and internationally.
