Rate My Professor Christopher Richardson

Associate Professor Christopher Richardson serves in the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health at the University of Wollongong, holding the position of Associate Professor in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience. He obtained his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, spanning 2000 to 2004. His research specializes in synthetic inorganic and organic chemistry, focusing on the design, synthesis, and post-synthetic modification of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), rhodium- and palladium-catalyzed reactions, coordination compounds, and functional materials development. Richardson's group employs techniques such as reactive extrusion printing for simultaneous crystallization and activation of MOFs, and investigates novel reactivity like tetradehydro-Diels-Alder reactions via rhodium-stabilized cyclic allenes. He is affiliated with the Molecular Horizons research institute, serving as the representative for Medicinal Chemistry and Synthesis.

Richardson's scholarly impact is demonstrated through publications in prestigious journals including Chemical Science, Angewandte Chemie, and the Journal of Organic Chemistry. Key works encompass 'Rhodium-catalysed tetradehydro-Diels-Alder reactions of enediynes via a rhodium-stabilized cyclic allene' (Chemical Science, 2020), 'Reactive Extrusion Printing for Simultaneous Crystallization and Activation of Metal-Organic Frameworks' (Angewandte Chemie, 2022), 'Water Sorption Controls Extreme Single-Crystal-to-Single-Crystal Molecular Reorganization in Hydrogen Bonded Organic Frameworks' (cited 31 times), 'Multicomponent metal-organic frameworks as defect-tolerant materials', and 'Divergent Reactivity of 1,2,3-Benzotriazin-4(3H)-ones: Photocatalytic Synthesis of 3-Substituted Isoindolinones' (Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2024). He has received ARC Discovery Project funding, including a 2023 grant in collaboration with Monash University. Additionally, Richardson acts as Faculty Academic Integrity Officer and teaches courses such as CHEM101 (Introductory Physical and General Chemistry), CHEM211 (Inorganic Chemistry II), and CHEM370 (Modern Inorganic and Bio-inorganic Chemistry).