Rodolphe Clérac received the 2021 Silver Medal from the CNRS.

Rodolphe Clérac, Research Director at the Centre de Recherche Paul and head of the “Molecular Materials & Magnetism” team, received the 2021 Silver Medal from the CNRS. In 2000, he joined the IUT of Bordeaux 1 and the Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, as an associate professor. He began his career focusing on the physical properties of fullerene salts and new molecular materials. In 2001, he brought together a new research team around molecular magnetic materials and introduced coordination chemistry at the Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal.

Photo © Philippe Labeguerie

In 2002, he discovered the first single-chain magnets, which opened up a new research field in molecular magnetism. His work then focused on these new one-dimensional magnets, the organization of molecule-magnets into coordination networks and he widened his researches towards bi- and tri-stable molecule-based systems with intramolecular electron transfer or spin conversion in solution, in the solid state or liquid crystal phases. In 2008, he joined the CNRS becoming a full-time researcher, and then in 2013, he was promoted to research director. In 2020, he developed a new post-synthetic approach and obtain the first molecular magnets operating up to 242°C with a high coercivity at room temperature. This synthetic strategy offers broad prospects for the preparation of a new generation of lightweight magnets at high temperature. His projects are currently directed towards the synthesis of new multifunctional molecule-based materials containing redox-active sites in order to obtain high-performance magnets also possessing high electrical conduction, photoactivity or porosity allowing selective gas absorption.

Rodolphe Clérac is author and co-author of over 500 publications and has presented over 130 invited lectures. He was elected in 2019 to the European Academy of Sciences and in 2020 to the Academia Europaea. In 2014, he became a junior distinguished member of the Société Chimique de France and received various awards including in 2017 the France-Berkeley Fund Award, in 2014 the National Chinese Award for the “1000 Talents Program” and in 2009 the Young Researcher Award of the Division de Chimie Physique de la Société Chimique de France.

Contact: Rodolphe Clérac
Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, UMR CNRS 5031
“Molecular Materials & Magnetism” team
115 Avenue du Dr. A. Schweitzer, 33600 Pessac, FRANCE
Phone: +33 (0) 5 56 84 56 50