Roald Hoffmann

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Roald Hoffmann
Hoffmann in 2009
Born
Roald Safran

(1937-07-18) July 18, 1937 (age 86)
Złoczów, Second Polish Republic
NationalityAmerican
Alma materColumbia University
Harvard University
Known forWoodward–Hoffmann rules
Extended Hückel method
Isolobal principle
Spouse
Eva Börjesson
​
(m. 1960)​
Children2
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsTheoretical Chemistry
InstitutionsCornell University
ThesisTheory of Polyhedral Molecules: Second Quantization and Hypochromism in Helices. (1962)
Doctoral advisor
Doctoral studentsJing Li
Other notable studentsJeffrey R. Long (undergraduate), Karen Goldberg (undergraduate)
Websitewww.roaldhoffmann.com

Roald Hoffmann (born Roald Safran; July 18, 1937)[2] is a Polish-American theoretical chemist who won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He has also published plays and poetry. He is the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters Emeritus at Cornell University.[3][4][5][6]

Early life[edit]

Escape from the Holocaust[edit]

2015

Hoffmann was born in Złoczów, Poland (now Zolochiv, Ukraine), to a Polish-Jewish family, and was named in honor of the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. His parents were Clara (Rosen), a teacher, and Hillel Safran, a civil engineer.[7] After Germany invaded Poland and occupied the town, his family was placed in a labor camp where his father, who was familiar with much of the local infrastructure, was a valued prisoner. As the situation grew more dangerous, with prisoners being transferred to extermination camps, the family bribed guards to allow an escape. They arranged with a Ukrainian neighbor named Mykola Dyuk for Hoffmann, his mother, two uncles and an aunt to hide in the attic and a storeroom of the local schoolhouse, where they remained for eighteen months, from January 1943 to June 1944, while Hoffmann was aged 5 to 7.[8][9]

His father remained at the labor camp, but was able to occasionally visit, until he was tortured and killed by the Germans for his involvement in a plot to arm the camp prisoners. When she received the news, his mother attempted to contain her sorrow by writing down her feelings in a notebook her husband had been using to take notes on a relativity textbook he had been reading. While in hiding his mother kept Hoffmann entertained by teaching him to read and having him memorize geography from textbooks stored in the attic, then quizzing him on it. He referred to the experience as having been enveloped in a cocoon of love.[10][9] In 1944 they moved to Kraków where his mother remarried.[4] They adopted her new husband's surname Hoffmann.[4]

Most of the rest of the family was killed in the Holocaust, though one grandmother and a few others survived.[11] They migrated to the United States on the troop carrier Ernie Pyle in 1949.[12]

Hoffmann visited Zolochiv with his adult son (by then a parent of a five-year-old) in 2006 and found that the attic where he had hidden was still intact, but the storeroom had been incorporated, ironically enough, into a chemistry classroom. In 2009, a monument to Holocaust victims was built in Zolochiv on Hoffmann's initiative.[13]

Personal life[edit]

Hoffmann married Eva Börjesson in 1960. They have two children, Hillel Jan and Ingrid Helena.[14]

He is an atheist.[15]

Education and academic credentials[edit]

Hoffmann graduated in 1955 from New York City's Stuyvesant High School,[16][17] where he won a Westinghouse science scholarship. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree at Columbia University (Columbia College) in 1958. He earned his Master of Arts degree in 1960 from Harvard University. He earned his doctor of philosophy degree from Harvard University while working[18][19][20][21][22] under joint supervision of Martin Gouterman and subsequent 1976 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner William N. Lipscomb, Jr. Hoffman worked on the molecular orbital theory of polyhedral molecules.[16] Under Lipscomb's direction the Extended Hückel method was developed by Lawrence Lohr and by Roald Hoffmann.[19][23] This method was later extended by Hoffmann.[24] In 1965, he went to Cornell University and has remained there, where he is a professor emeritus.

Scientific research[edit]

External videos
video icon “Chemistry's Essential Tension”, Roald Hoffman, Dartmouth College
video icon “Roald Hoffmann Shares Discovery Through Chemistry”, Roald Hoffman, National Science Foundation

Hoffmann's research and interests have been in the electronic structure of stable and unstable molecules, and in the study of transition states in reactions.[18][19][20][21][22][24][23] He has investigated the structure and reactivity of both organic and inorganic molecules, and examined problems in organo-metallic and solid-state chemistry.[12] Hoffman has developed semiempirical and nonempirical computational tools and methods such as the extended Hückel method which he proposed in 1963 for determining molecular orbitals.[14]

With Robert Burns Woodward he developed the Woodward–Hoffmann rules for elucidating reaction mechanisms and their stereochemistry. They realized that chemical transformations could be approximately predicted from subtle symmetries and asymmetries in the electron orbitals of complex molecules.[25] Their rules predict differing outcomes, such as the types of products that will be formed when two compounds are activated by heat compared with those produced under activation by light.[26] For this work Hoffmann received the 1981 Nobel Prize in chemistry, sharing it with Japanese chemist Kenichi Fukui,[27] who had independently resolved similar issues. (Woodward was not included in the prize, which is given only to living persons,[28] although he had won the 1965 prize for other work.) In his Nobel Lecture, Hoffmann introduced the isolobal analogy for predicting the bonding properties of organometallic compounds.[29]

Some of Hoffman's most recent work, with Neil Ashcroft and Vanessa Labet, examines bonding in matter under extreme high pressure.[12]

What gives me the greatest joy in this work? That as we tease apart what goes on in hydrogen under pressures such as those that one finds at the center of the earth, two explanations subtly contend with each other ... [physical and chemical] ... Hydrogen under extreme pressure is doing just what an inorganic molecule at 1 atmosphere does![12]

Artistic interests[edit]

The World Of Chemistry with Roald Hoffmann[edit]

In 1988 Hoffmann became the series host in a 26-program PBS education series by Annenberg/CPB, The World of Chemistry, opposite with series demonstrator Don Showalter. While Hoffmann introduced a series of concepts and ideas, Showalter provided a series of demonstrations and other visual representations to help students and viewers to better understand the information.

Entertaining Science[edit]

Since the spring of 2001, Hoffmann has been the host of the monthly series Entertaining Science at New York City's Cornelia Street Cafe,[30] which explores the juncture between the arts and science.

Non-fiction[edit]

He has published books on the connections between art and science: Roald Hoffmann on the Philosophy, Art, and Science of Chemistry and Beyond the Finite: The Sublime in Art and Science.[31]

Poetry[edit]

Hoffmann is also a writer of poetry.[32] His collections include The Metamict State (1987, ISBN 0-8130-0869-7),[33] Gaps and Verges (1990, ISBN 0-8130-0943-X),[25] and Chemistry Imagined, co-produced with artist Vivian Torrence.[25][34]

Plays[edit]

He co-authored with Carl Djerassi the play Oxygen, about the discovery of oxygen and the experience of being a scientist. Hoffman's play, "Should've" (2006) about ethics in science and art, has been produced in workshops, as has a play based on his experiences in the holocaust, "We Have Something That Belongs to You" (2009), later retitled "Something That Belongs to You.[31][35]

Honors and awards[edit]

Roald Hoffmann with the AIC Gold Medal

Nobel Prize in Chemistry[edit]

In 1981, Hoffmann received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he shared with Kenichi Fukui "for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions".[28][36]

Other awards[edit]

Hoffmann has won many other awards,[37] and is the recipient of more than 25 honorary degrees.[38]

Hoffmann is a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science[63] and the Board of Sponsors of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.[64]

In August 2007, the American Chemical Society held a symposium at its biannual national meeting to honor Hoffmann's 70th birthday.[65]

In 2008, the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities awarded him its Lichtenberg Medal.

In August 2017, another symposium was held at the 254th American Chemical Society National Meeting in Washington DC, to honor Hoffmann's 80th birthday.[66]

The Hoffmann Institute of Advanced Materials in Shenzhen, named after him, was founded in his honor in February 2018[67] and formally opened in his presence in May 2019.[68]

In 2023, Roald Hoffmann was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York as an honoree of the Great Immigrants Awards.[69]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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  2. ^ Hoffmann's birth name was Roald Safran. Hoffmann is the surname adopted by his stepfather in the years after World War II.
  3. ^ Hoffman, J. (2011). "Q&A: Chemical connector Roald Hoffmann talks about language, ethics and the sublime". Nature. 480 (7376): 179. Bibcode:2011Natur.480..179H. doi:10.1038/480179a.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Roald Hoffmann - Biographical". nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  5. ^ "Photograph of Roald Hoffman". kewgardensmovie.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  6. ^ "Roald Hoffmann". www.nndb.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  7. ^ "Roald Hoffmann". HowStuffWorks. July 2010. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  8. ^ The rescue of Roald Hoffmann Archived October 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine at Yad Vashem website
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Roald Hoffmann, interviewed by David J. Caruso in Cornell University on October 16, 2014. Oral History Transcript 0925. Philadelphia, PA: Science History Institute. 2020.
  10. ^ "The Moth: The Long Ukrainian Winters - Roald Hoffmann". YouTube. January 15, 2012. featuring Roald Hoffman, lecture at the World Science Festival. "World Science Festival Video : Moth: The Long Ukrainian Winters". Archived from the original on January 15, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. ^ The Tense Middle Archived February 23, 2018, at the Wayback Machine by Roald Hoffmann, story on NPR. Retrieved September 29, 2006.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Hoffmann, Roald (2012). "Passerelles". Chemical Heritage Magazine. 30 (2): 37. Archived from the original on March 21, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  13. ^ Holocaust monument dedicated in western Ukraine Archived May 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 20, 2009
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b "Roald Hoffmann - Biographical". Nobel Prize. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  15. ^ Liberato Cardellini: "A final and more personal question: You defined yourself as 'an atheist who is moved by religion'. Looking at the tenor of your life and the many goals you have achieved, one wonders where your inner force comes from." Roald Hoffmann: "The atheism and the respect for religion come form (sic) the same source. I observe that in every culture on Earth, absolutely every one, human beings have constructed religious systems. There is a need in us to try to understand, to see that there is something that unites us spiritually. So scientists who do not respect religion fail in their most basic task—observation. Human beings need the spiritual. The same observation reveals to me a multitude of religious constructions—gods of nature, spirits, the great monotheistic religions. It seems to me there can't be a God or gods; there are just manifestations of a human-constructed spirituality." Liberato Cardellini, Looking for Connections: An Interview with Roald Hoffmann Archived April 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, page 1634.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b Cardellini, Liberato (2007). "Looking for Connections: An Interview with Roald Hoffmann" (PDF). Journal of Chemical Education. 84 (10): 1631–1635. Bibcode:2007JChEd..84.1631C. doi:10.1021/ed084p1631. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  17. ^ "Roald Hoffmann's land between chemistry, poetry and philosophy". Archived from the original on January 19, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b Hoffmann, R.; Lipscomb, W. N. (1962). "Theory of Polyhedral Molecules. III. Population Analyses and Reactivities for the Carboranes". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 36 (12): 3489. Bibcode:1962JChPh..36.3489H. doi:10.1063/1.1732484.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b c Hoffmann, R.; Lipscomb, W. N. (1962). "Theory of Polyhedral Molecules. I. Physical Factorizations of the Secular Equation". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 36 (8): 2179. Bibcode:1962JChPh..36.2179H. doi:10.1063/1.1732849.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b Hoffmann, R.; Lipscomb, W. N. (1962). "Boron Hydrides: LCAO—MO and Resonance Studies". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 37 (12): 2872. Bibcode:1962JChPh..37.2872H. doi:10.1063/1.1733113.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b Hoffmann, R.; Lipscomb, W. N. (1962). "Sequential Substitution Reactions on B10H10−2 and B12H12−2". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 37 (3): 520. Bibcode:1962JChPh..37..520H. doi:10.1063/1.1701367. S2CID 95702477.
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b Hoffmann, R.; Lipscomb, W. N. (1963). "Intramolecular Isomerization and Transformations in Carboranes and Substituted Polyhedral Molecules" (PDF). Inorganic Chemistry. 2: 231–232. doi:10.1021/ic50005a066. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 11, 2015.
  23. ^ Jump up to: a b Lipscomb WN. Boron Hydrides, W. A. Benjamin Inc., New York, 1963, Chapter 3. [ISBN missing]
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b Hoffmann, R. (1963). "An Extended Hückel Theory. I. Hydrocarbons". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 39 (6): 1397–1412. Bibcode:1963JChPh..39.1397H. doi:10.1063/1.1734456.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b c Browne, Malcolm W. (July 6, 1993). "SCIENTIST AT WORK: Roald Hoffmann; Seeking Beauty In Atoms". New York Times. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  26. ^ "Robert Burns Woodward". Science History Institute. June 2016. Archived from the original on March 21, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  27. ^ Buckingham, A. D.; Nakatsuji, H. (2001). "Kenichi Fukui. 4 October 1918 -- 9 January 1998: Elected F.R.S. 1989". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 47: 223–237. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2001.0013.
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b c The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1981 Archived March 22, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Nobelprize.org. Retrieved on April 2, 2014.
  29. ^ Hoffmann, Roald. "Building bridges between inorganic and organic chemistry - Nobel lecture, 8 December 1981" (PDF). Nobel Prize. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  30. ^ "A Brief History". The Cornelia Street Café. Archived from the original on July 8, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  31. ^ Jump up to: a b Romanska, Magda (June 14, 2014). "Between Art and Science: A Conversation with Roald Hoffmann". Cosmopolitan Review. Archived from the original on March 20, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
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  33. ^ "25 years ago: Roald Hoffmann publishes his poetry". Chemistry World. Energy Science Technology. February 28, 2013. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
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  35. ^ "Something That Belongs To You". www.roaldhoffmann.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
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  64. ^ "Board of Sponsors". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  65. ^ Kovac, Jeffrey; Weisberg, Michael (2012). Roald Hoffmann on the philosophy, art, and science of chemistry. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-975590-5. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  66. ^ "Chemical Bonding and Reactivity Spanning the Periodic Table: A Symposium in Honor of Roald Hoffmann – PCCP Blog". blogs.rsc.org. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  67. ^ "Ten Nobel prize-winning laboratories tell you: why do top scientists favor Shenzhen?".
  68. ^ "Inauguration Ceremony of Hoffmann Institute of Advanced Materials and International Symposium on Advanced Functional Materials held at Shenzhen Polytechnic". edu.gd.gov.cn. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  69. ^ "Great Immigrants Awards: Roald Hoffmann".

External links[edit]

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