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Kenichi Fukui | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 4, 1918 |
| Died | January 9, 1998 (aged 79) Kyoto, Japan |
| Nationality | Japan |
| Known for | orbitals in chemical reactions |
| Awards | Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1981 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | chemistry |
| Institutions | Kyoto University |
- In this Japanese name, the family name is Fukui.
Kenichi Fukui[1] (October 4, 1918–January 9, 1998) was a Japanese chemist. He won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.[2]
Early life
[change | change source]Fukui was the oldest of three sons of Ryokichi Fukui, who was a merchant. He was born in Nara, Japan.[2]
He graduated from Kyoto Imperial University in 1941.[2]
Career
[change | change source]Fukui worked at the Army Fuel Laboratory of Japan during World War II.{[2]
In 1943, he was appointed a lecturer in fuel chemistry at Kyoto Imperial University.[2]
He was professor of physical chemistry at Kyoto University from 1951 to 1982.[source?]
He was president of the Kyoto Institute of Technology between 1982 and 1988.[2]
Fukui shared the 1981 Nobel Prize with Roald Hoffmann. Fukui and Hoffmann worked separately on the mechanisms of chemical reactions. Fukui explained in his Nobel lecture that,
- "It is only after the remarkable appearance of the brilliant work by Woodward and Hoffmann that I have become fully aware that not only the density distribution but also the nodal property of the particular orbitals have significance in such a wide variety of chemical reactions."[3]
Honors
[change | change source]- Japan Academy Medal, 1962[2]
- Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1981[2]
- Order of Culture, 1981[2]
- Order of the Rising Sun, Grand Cordon, 1988[2]
- Royal Society (UK), foreign member, 1989[2]