Was Plagiarism Involved in the Woodward-Hoffmann Rules?

In 1981, Roald Hoffmann and Kenichi Fukui shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions”. Had R. B. Woodward (1917 - 1979) lived two years longer, he would surely have received his second Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the Woodward-Hoffmann rules. In the March 29, 2004, issue of Chemical & Engineering News, E. J. Corey wrote in his Priestley Medal Address, “On May 4, 1964, I suggested to my colleague R. B. Woodward a simple explanation involving the symmetry of the perturbed (HOMO) molecular orbitals for the stereoselective cyclobutene/1,3-butadiene and 1,3,5-hexatriene/cyclohexadiene conversions that provided the basis for the further development of these ideas into what became known as the Woodward-Hoffmann rules.” Letters between Corey and Hoffmann in 1981 and 1984 and other relevant information will be shown and discussed. This seminar will focus on responsible conduct of science and the practice of science in today’s complex and fast moving scientific, academic, and political environments.

Speaker: Jeffrey Seeman, University of Richmond