Draft:François Gabbaï

François Gabbaï holds the esteemed positions of University Distinguished Professor and the Arthur E. Martell Chair of Chemistry at Texas A&M University. His research group focuses on synthetic chemistry, particularly emphasizing electron-deficient organic, organometallic, and inorganic derivatives. They are deeply engaged in designing compounds with unconventional electronic structures and bonding motifs, and they actively investigate the chemistry of late transition metal complexes. One significant area of their research involves exploring new concepts in anion sensing and transport, with potential applications in cellular biology. By developing innovative ligands, they aim to advance the field of late transition metal catalysis. Overall, their work spans various facets of synthetic chemistry, contributing to both fundamental understanding and practical applications in diverse fields.

Education
François Gabbaï, born in 1968 in Montpellier, France, pursued his undergraduate studies in chemistry at the Université de Bordeaux, graduating in 1990. Following this, he enrolled in the graduate program at UT Austin under the supervision of Alan H. Cowley, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1994.

Career
François Gabbaï, born in 1968 in Montpellier, France, pursued his undergraduate studies in chemistry at the Université de Bordeaux, graduating in 1990. Following this, he enrolled in the graduate program at UT Austin under the supervision of Alan H. Cowley, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1994. In 1992 and 1993, he fulfilled his obligations to the French National Duties by participating in a Franco-American collaboration under Guy Bertrand in Toulouse. He later joined Texas A&M University, where he currently holds the position of University Distinguished Professor and the Arthur E. Martell Chair of Chemistry. Dr. Gabbaï serves on the advisory boards of several international journals and has held roles as an associate editor for Organometallics from 2011 to 2019, and for Chemical Science since April 2019. He has been invited to deliver numerous distinguished lectures, including the 2016 Boulder Scientific Innovation Lecture at Colorado State, the 2017 James A. Ibers Summer Lectures at Northwestern University, the 2017 Anton Burg Lecture at the University of Southern California, the 2018 Reilly Lectures at Notre Dame University, the Lappert Lecture at the 2018 RSC Dalton Meeting, and the 2022 Sheldon Shore Lecture at Ohio State University.

Awards
He was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship as well as Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Commission which allowed him to work with H. Schmidbaur at the Technische Universität München (Germany) as a postdoctoral fellow and later as an “Habilitand”. He is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and the recipient of the 2009 North American Dalton Lectureship, the 2016 ACS F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry, the 2019 Distinguished Achievement Research Award from the Texas A&M Association of Former Students, and the 2022 Boron in the Americas Award.

Research
His research team has developed a legacy in exploring the chemistry of Lewis acidic organo-main group compounds, which they have applied in constructing supramolecular structures and complexing small anions such as fluoride and cyanide. They have also maintained a keen focus on synthesizing and investigating main group compounds with Lewis acidic and electroactive carbenium functionalities. Additionally, they are engaged in studying antimony-platinum complexes and their transformation into active electrophilic hydroarylation and enyne cyclization catalysts through antimony-centered anion abstraction reactions.

Publication

 * E. D. Litle, F. P. Gabbaï " Double axial stabilization of a carbenium ion via convergent P=O → C⁺ tetrel bonding" Chem. Commun. 2024, 60, 690-693.
 * B. Zhou, S. Bedajna, F. P. Gabbaï "Pnictogen bonding at the service of gold catalysis: The case of a phosphinostiborane gold complex" Chem. Commun. 2024, 60, 192-195
 * A. Munawar, L. T. Maltz, W. C. Liu, F. P. Gabbaï "Synthesis of an Indazole/Indazolium Phosphine Ligand Scaffold and Its Application in Gold(I) Catalysis" Organometallics 2023, 42, 2742-2746.
 * M. Karimi, E. Litle, F. P. Gabbai, "Cationic Complexes with Au→Ge Bonds – Synthesis and Carbophilic Reactivity" Israel Journal of Chemistry, 2023, 63, e202200036.
 * B. L. Murphy, F. P. Gabbaï "Binding, Sensing, And Transporting Anions with Pnictogen Bonds: The Case of Organoantimony Lewis Acids" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 19458-19477.
 * L. T. Maltz, F. P. Gabbaï "Analyzing Fluoride Binding by Group 15 Lewis Acids: Pnictogen Bonding in the Pentavalent State" Inorg. Chem. 2023, 62, 13566-13572.


 * B. Zhou, F. P. Gabbaï "Four-Electron Reduction of O₂ Using Distibines in the Presence of ortho-Quinones" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 13758-13767.
 * J. E. Smith, F. P. Gabbaï "Are Ar₃SbCl₂ Species Lewis Acidic? Exploration of the Concept and Pnictogen Bond Catalysis Using a Geometrically Constrained Example" Organometallics 2023, 42, 240-245.
 * A. Cataldo, M. Chvojka, G. Park, V. Sindelar, F. P. Gabbaï, S. J. Butler, H. Valkenier "Transmembrane transport of fluoride studied by time-resolved emission spectroscopy" Chem. Commun. 2023, 59, 4185-4188. (Pre-Print: ChemRxiv, 10.26434/chemrxiv-2023-b1780).
 * E. D. Litle, F. P. Gabbaï "A cationic gold-fluorenyl complex with a dative Au → C+ bond: synthesis, structure, and carbophilic reactivity" Chem. Commun. 2023, 59, 603-606.
 * W.-C. Liu, F. P. Gabbaï "Placing gold on a π⁺-surface: ligand design and impact on reactivity" Chem. Sci. 2023, 14, 277-283.
 * W.-C. Liu, F. P. Gabbaï "Fluoride ion sensing with an acridinium borane" Can. J. Chem. 2023, 101, 154-162.