Dr John Boas

Position: Honary Research Fellow

Affiliation: School of Physics and Materials Engineering, Monash University

Postal Address:
School of Physics and Materials Engineering
P.O. Box 69m
Monash University
Victoria 3800
Australia

Email: John.Boas@spme.monash.edu.au
Webpage: http://www.spme.monash.edu.au

Research Profile

During my PhD studies, postdoctoral research and at ARL until mid 1991, my main research interests were in the application of EPR spectroscopy to problems in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Whilst at ARL, from November 1978 until mid-1991, I was leader of a research group working on fundamental and applied problems in solid state dosimetry, principally thermoluminescence dosimetry. I also provided the EPR expertise for a group working on the chemistry of Technetium complexes (Technetium complexes are the basis for many radiopharmaceutical scanning agents).

From mid-1991 my main activities were the coordination of a team charged with the development of standards of absorbed dose for ionizing radiation, including those for the megavoltage X-ray beams as used in radiation therapy. From December 1996 until my retirement in May 2000, I was manager of the Ionising Radiation Measurement Standards Section, responsible for the research, development and dissemination of the Australian measurement standards of exposure and absorbed dose for ionizing radiation. I was the Australian representative on Section 1 of the Consultative Committee for Ionising Radiation (one of 9 specialist committees of the International Committee on Weights and Measures) and Vice-President of the committee for Standards of Ionising Radiation for the Asia-Pacific Metrology Program. My opportunities for refereed publications were limited because of the practice in the standards field of disseminating information in the form of laboratory and conference reports, reviewed internally, rather than as externally peer reviewed publications for international journals.

Since July 2000, I have been an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Physics and Materials Engineering at Monash University, carrying out research in association with Professor J R Pilbrow. My main interests are in the applications of EPR, particularly to chemical and biological problems.

Selected Publications

1. Mossbauer effect in ferritin. J F Boas and B Window, Australian J Physics 19 (1966) 573-6
2. Electron spin resonance studies of copper (II) hydroxy- carboxylic acid chelates in aqueous and non- aqueous solutions. J F Boas, R H Dunhill, J R Pilbrow, R C Srivastava and T D Smith, J Chem Soc A (1969) , 94- 108
3. Electron spin resonance studies of some copper (II) peptide complexes. J F Boas, J R Pilbrow, C R Hartzell and T D Smith, J Chem Soc A (1969) 572- 577
4. Electron spin resonance studies of copper (II) in haemocyanin, its chelates with (+) - mercaptosuccinic acid and some related systems. J F Boas, J R Pilbrow, G J Troup, C Moore and T D Smith, J Chem Soc A (1969) 965- 971
5. Computer simulation of the EPR spectra of mononuclear and dipolar coupled Cu (II) ions in nitric oxide and nitrite-treated haemocyanins and tyrosinase. A J M Schoot-Uiterkamp, H Van Der Deen, H C J Berendsen and J F Boas, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 372 (1974) 407-425
6. Interpretation of electron spin resonance spectra due to some B12 dependent enzyme reactions. J F Boas, P R Hicks, J R Pilbrow and T D Smith, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans II 74 (1978), 417-431.
7. EPR of Copper Proteins. J F Boas in "Copper Proteins and Copper Enzymes", Vol. 1 (R. Lontie, editor) C.R.C. Press, Boca Raton, (1984) p 5-62.
8. Studies of technetium complexes, Part 6. The preparation, characterization, and electron spin resonance spectra of salts of tetrachloro- and tetrabromo-nitridotechnetate (VI): crystal structure of tetraphenylarsonium tetrachloronitridotechnetate (VI). J Baldas, J F Boas, J Bonnyman and G A Williams, J. Chem. Soc. Dalton Trans., (1984), 2395-2400.
9. Preparation and ESR studies of salts of crown ether complex cations and nitridotechnetium(VI) anions: structures of the twinned ‘infinite sandwich’ [Cs(18-crown-6)][TcNCl4] comlex and of [Rb(15-crown-5)2][TcNCl4(OH2)]. J Baldas, J F Boas, S F Colmanet, A D Rae and G A Williams. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 442 (1993) 437-461
10. Spin states of C603- and C120On- (n= 2, 3, 4) anions using electron spin transient nutation spectroscopy. S C Drew, J F Boas, J R Pilbrow, P D W Boyd, P Paul, and C A Reed, J Phys. Chem. B (2003), 107, 11353-11359

Facilities