Robin Perutz FRS (born December 1949, in Cambridge) is a professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of York, where he was formerly head of department between 2000 and 2004.
In particular, his interests lie in the mechanistic details of homogeneous catalysis by transition metal complexes, and is responsible for many techniques used in the field.
Perutz's research has enabled chemists to take a different approach to fundamental reactions and many industrial processes.
He subsequently worked for his PhD alongside Professor Jim Turner FRS, initially in Cambridge and then at Newcastle University.
His focus was on utilising photochemical metal carbonyl dissociation in low temperature matrices, producing seminal work on the interaction of Cr(CO)5 with ‘inert’ matrix hosts, including CH4 and Xe.