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Chemistry
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Chemistry

D-Index
138
Citations
73282
World Ranking
225
National Ranking
106

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Chemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Chemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2017 - Wolf Prize in Chemistry, Wolf Foundation for his discovery of the activation responses of carbon-hydrogen bonds in hydrocarbons by soluble organometallic complexes.
  • 2014 - Welch Award in Chemistry, Robert A. Welch Foundation
  • 2011 - Fellow of the American Chemical Society
  • 2007 - NAS Award in Chemical Sciences, National Academy of Sciences (US) For numerous innovative contributions at the interfaces of physical, organic, and inorganic chemistry, including the discoveries of alkane carbon-hydrogen bond oxidative addition and 1,4-benzene diradicals.
  • 2002 - Monie A. Ferst Award, Sigma Xi
  • 1999 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 1998 - Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  • 1996 - Arthur C. Cope Award, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • 1984 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 1984 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 1970 - Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Overview

Robert G. Bergman is affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley in the United States. Their research spans multiple domains within materials science and chemistry, with a significant focus on crystallography and organometallic chemistry.

They have published extensively in several key venues, highlighted by:

  • The Cambridge Structural Database (77 publications)
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society (11 publications)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (9 publications)
  • Chemical Science (2 publications)
  • Nature Catalysis (1 publication)

Bergman's primary fields of study include Materials Science with 163 publications and Chemistry with 60 publications. Their subfields encompass Materials Chemistry (155 publications), Organic Chemistry (43 publications), Inorganic Chemistry (10 publications), Molecular Biology (7 publications), and Biomaterials (4 publications).

The scientist's main research topics incorporate:

  • Crystallization and Solubility Studies (154 publications)
  • X-ray Diffraction in Crystallography (154 publications)
  • Organometallic Complex Synthesis and Catalysis (26 publications)
  • Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes (14 publications)
  • Chemical Synthesis and Analysis (12 publications)
  • Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Materials (8 publications)
  • Synthetic Organic Chemistry Methods (8 publications)

Recent scholarly articles authored by or involving Robert G. Bergman include:

  • "Advances in supramolecular host-mediated reactivity," 2020, Nature Catalysis
  • "Impact of Host Flexibility on Selectivity in a Supramolecular Host-Catalyzed Enantioselective aza-Darzens Reaction," 2022, Journal of the American Chemical Society
  • "A Nanovessel-Catalyzed Three-Component Aza-Darzens Reaction," 2020, Journal of the American Chemical Society
  • "Chemoselective and Site-Selective Reductions Catalyzed by a Supramolecular Host and a Pyridine-Borane Cofactor," 2021, Journal of the American Chemical Society
  • "An Isolated Water Droplet in the Aqueous Solution of a Supramolecular Tetrahedral Cage," 2020, arXiv (Cornell University)

Their frequent coauthors include Trevor D. Lohrey, John Arnold, Jade I. Fostvedt, and Erik T. Ouellette.

Robert G. Bergman has received multiple awards throughout their career. These include the Wolf Prize in Chemistry awarded by the Wolf Foundation in 2017 for discoveries related to the activation responses of carbon-hydrogen bonds in hydrocarbons by soluble organometallic complexes, the Welch Award in Chemistry in 2014, the NAS Award in Chemical Sciences in 2007 from the National Academy of Sciences (US), and the Arthur C. Cope Award from the American Chemical Society in 1996.

Additional recognitions feature fellowships from several organizations such as the American Chemical Society (2011), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1999, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1998, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1984, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1970. Membership in the National Academy of Sciences was granted in 1984. The Monie A. Ferst Award from Sigma Xi was received in 2002.

Best Publications

  • Rhodium-Catalyzed C-C Bond Formation via Heteroatom-Directed C-H Bond Activation

    Denise A. Colby;Robert G. Bergman;Jonathan A. Ellman

  • Organometallic chemistry: C-H activation.

    Robert G. Bergman

  • Selective Intermolecular Carbon-Hydrogen Bond Activation by Synthetic Metal Complexes in Homogeneous Solution

    Bruce A. Arndtsen;Robert G. Bergman;T. Andrew Mobley;Thomas H. Peterson

  • Rhodium catalyzed chelation-assisted C-H bond functionalization reactions

    Denise A. Colby;Andy S. Tsai;Robert G. Bergman;Jonathan A. Ellman

  • Supramolecular Catalysis in Metal–Ligand Cluster Hosts

    Casey J. Brown;F. Dean Toste;Robert G. Bergman;Robert G. Bergman;Kenneth N. Raymond;Kenneth N. Raymond

  • Reactive 1,4-dehydroaromatics

    Robert G. Bergman

  • Selective molecular recognition, C-H bond activation, and catalysis in nanoscale reaction vessels

    Dorothea Fiedler;Dennis H. Leung;Robert G. Bergman;Kenneth N. Raymond

  • Direct Functionalization of Nitrogen Heterocycles via Rh-Catalyzed C−H Bond Activation

    Jared C. Lewis;Robert G. Bergman;Jonathan A. Ellman

  • p-Benzyne. Generation as an intermediate in a thermal isomerization reaction and trapping evidence for the 1,4-benzenediyl structure

    Richard R. Jones;Robert G. Bergman

  • Acid catalysis in basic solution: a supramolecular host promotes orthoformate hydrolysis.

    Michael D. Pluth;Robert G. Bergman;Kenneth N. Raymond

  • Carbon-hydrogen activation in completely saturated hydrocarbons: direct observation of M + R-H .fwdarw. M(R)(H)

    Andrew H. Janowicz;Robert G. Bergman

  • Proton-mediated chemistry and catalysis in a self-assembled supramolecular host.

    Michael D. Pluth;Robert G. Bergman;Kenneth N. Raymond

  • Unusually Mild and Selective Hydrocarbon C-H Bond Activation with Positively Charged Iridium(III) Complexes

    Bruce A. Arndtsen;Robert G. Bergman

  • Stoichiometric and catalytic hydroamination of alkynes and allene by zirconium bisamides Cp2Zr(NHR)2

    Patrick J. Walsh;Anne M. Baranger;Robert G. Bergman

  • Generation, alkyne cycloaddition, arene carbon-hydrogen activation, nitrogen-hydrogen activation and dative ligand trapping reactions of the first monomeric imidozirconocene (Cp2Zr:NR) complexes

    Patrick J. Walsh;Frederick J. Hollander;Robert G. Bergman

  • Activation of carbon-hydrogen bonds in saturated hydrocarbons on photolysis of (.eta.5-C5Me5)(PMe3)IrH2. Relative rates of reaction of the intermediate with different types of carbon-hydrogen bonds and functionalization of the metal-bound alkyl groups

    Andrew H. Janowicz;Robert G. Bergman

  • Mechanistic Investigation of the Staudinger Ligation

    Fiona L. Lin;Helen M. Hoyt;Herman Van Halbeek;Robert G. Bergman

  • A supramolecular microenvironment strategy for transition metal catalysis

    David M. Kaphan;David M. Kaphan;Mark D. Levin;Robert G. Bergman;Robert G. Bergman;Kenneth N. Raymond;Kenneth N. Raymond

  • Catalytic C-O Bond Cleavage of 2-Aryloxy-1-arylethanols and Its Application to the Depolymerization of Lignin-Related Polymers

    Jason M. Nichols;Lee M. Bishop;Robert G. Bergman;Jonathan A. Ellman

  • A supramolecular approach to combining enzymatic and transition metal catalysis

    Z. Jane Wang;Kristen N. Clary;Robert G. Bergman;Kenneth N. Raymond

Frequent Co-Authors

Jonathan A. Ellman
Jonathan A. Ellman Yale University
Kenneth N. Raymond
Kenneth N. Raymond Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
John Arnold
John Arnold University of California, Berkeley
F. Dean Toste
F. Dean Toste University of California, Berkeley
Richard A. Andersen
Richard A. Andersen Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Patrick J. Walsh
Patrick J. Walsh University of Pennsylvania
T. Don Tilley
T. Don Tilley University of California, Berkeley
Michael D. Pluth
Michael D. Pluth University of Oregon
John F. Hartwig
John F. Hartwig University of California, Berkeley
Clayton H. Heathcock
Clayton H. Heathcock University of California, Berkeley

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