Brendan Abrahams

Professor Brendan Abrahams is a Professor in the School of Chemistry within the Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne. He earned a BSc (Hons) from the University of Melbourne in 1984 and completed a PhD in 1989 in cadmium and mercury coordination chemistry. Appointed to a continuing teaching-research position in the School of Chemistry in 2004, he has advanced to full professor and plays key roles in education, including as principal coordinator for Practical Chemistry 2 and School of Chemistry SA&SE Advisor. Abrahams is recognized for his long-standing collaboration with Emeritus Professor Richard Robson, providing crystallographic expertise that established the structural foundations of coordination polymers, contributing to advancements in porous materials acknowledged in the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

His research specializes in inorganic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, and crystal engineering, with focuses including coordination polymers, metal-organic frameworks, supramolecular architecture, porphyrin building blocks, hydrothermal synthesis, single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformations, zeolite analogues, enantioseparation, single-molecule magnets, and porous materials. Abrahams has authored or co-authored over 250 scholarly works. Among his most influential publications are 'Assembly of porphyrin building blocks into network structures with large channels' (Nature, 1994), 'A new type of infinite 3D polymeric network containing 4-connected, peripherally-linked metalloporphyrin building blocks' (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1991), 'Novel, acentric metal-organic coordination polymers from hydrothermal reactions involving in situ ligand synthesis' (Angewandte Chemie, 2002), 'Enantioseparation of racemic organic molecules by a zeolite analogue' (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2001), and 'Ni(tpt)(NO3)2—A Three-Dimensional Network with the Exceptional (12,3) Topology: A Self-Entangled Single Net' (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 1999). These highly cited papers highlight his impact on the design and synthesis of novel framework materials. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Chemical Communications, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Professional Email: bfa@unimelb.edu.au