[5] While working and teaching at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (1962–1972), he rose from Assistant Professor to a full Professorship.

[10][11] Hexamethyl Dewar benzene (C6Me6) undergoes an unusual rearrangement reaction with hydrohalic acids to form a pentamethylcyclopentadiene derivative,[12][13] and consequently can be used as a starting material for synthesising some pentamethylcyclopentadienyl organometallic compounds.

[16] His group also demonstrated a more convenient synthesis for the bright orange, air-stable diamagnetic iridium reagent using pentamethylcyclopentadiene.

[17] Isocyanides can serve as ligands in co-ordination chemistry as a result of the lone electron pair on carbon, and are especially useful with metals in the 0, +1, and +2 oxidation states.

In particular, Maitlis has demonstrated that tert-butyl isocyanide can stabilise metals in unusual oxidation states, such as palladium(I) in the complex [(t-BuNC)2Pd(μ-Cl)]2.