Kenichi Fukui, Frontier Molecular Orbital Theory, and the Woodward-Hoffmann Rules. Part III. Fukui's Science and Technology, 1918-1965†

In 1981, Kenichi Fukui shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Roald Hoffmann for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions. In 1964, Fukui used his frontier molecular orbital theory to reveal the mechanism of the Diels-Alder reaction, a prototypical pericyclic cycloaddition reaction. Fukui revealed this molecular orbital symmetry explanation a year before Woodward and Hoffmann's first publication on the conservation of orbital symmetry. As detailed in this paper, during the 1960s and early 1960s, Fukui was involved in several major programs in synthesis and polymer chemistry as well as aspects of theoretical chemistry quite distant from his contributions to the orbital symmetry research that preceded Woodward and Hoffmann. In this paper, a detailed examination of Fukui's pre-1965 research is discussed. This is Paper 4 - Part III of a trilogy that deals with Fukui's Nobel Prize research and is part of a 27-paper series on the history of the development of the Woodward-Hoffmann rules.

Automated summary

This article introduces Kenichi Fukui's contributions and his involvement in various areas of chemical research. His frontier molecular orbital theory provided an explanation for the mechanism of the Diels-Alder reaction, and his research preceded Woodward and Hoffmann's studies on orbital symmetry to some extent.