Definition

Proper noun: - Roald Hoffmann: A United States chemist, born in Poland in 1937, who applied quantum mechanics to understand and explain chemical reactions. He is a Nobel laureate in Chemistry.

Usage

• Proper noun:
  • The theories of Roald Hoffmann revolutionized our understanding of how chemical bonds form and break.
  • Roald Hoffmann shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Kenichi Fukui.

Advanced Usage

• As an eponym: The name can be used attributively to describe concepts or awards associated with him.
  • The Hoffmann rules describe certain stereochemical outcomes in elimination reactions.
  • She received a fellowship named for Roald Hoffmann.

Variants and Related Words

• Hoffmann: A common shortened or surname reference.
  • The work of Hoffmann and Fukui is foundational in theoretical chemistry.

Synonyms

• Theoretical chemist
• Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1981)

Related Phrases and Contexts

• Frontier molecular orbital theory: A key theory developed by Hoffmann and Fukui.
• Woodward–Hoffmann rules: A set of rules in organic chemistry predicting the stereochemistry of pericyclic reactions, formulated by Hoffmann and Robert Burns Woodward.

Noun

1. United States chemist (born in Poland) who used quantum mechanics to understand chemical reactions (born in 1937)