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Chemistry
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Chemistry

D-Index
148
Citations
96225
World Ranking
147
National Ranking
75

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Chemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Chemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2017 - Polish Academy of Science
  • 2009 - Fellow of the American Chemical Society
  • 2009 - James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • 2007 - Member of the European Academy of Sciences
  • 1998 - Kołos Medal (Medal im. Włodzimierza Kołosa), University of Warsaw and Polish Chemical Society
  • 1996 - George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • 1990 - Priestley Medal, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • 1986 - NAS Award in Chemical Sciences, National Academy of Sciences (US) For his unifying contributions to chemistry, bringing together theory and experiment; quantum mechanics; and organic, inorganic, organometallic, and solid state chemistry.
  • 1984 - Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom
  • 1983 - US President's National Medal of Science "His creative applications of theory to organic and inorganic chemistry have brought together the world community of chemists. The magnitude and uniqueness of his contributions to modern chemistry and the scientific process are contributing to an ever-improving understanding of chemistry.", Presented by President Reagan at a White House Ceremony on February 27, 1985.
  • 1982 - Fellow of American Physical Society (APS)
  • 1981 - Nobel Prize for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions
  • 1981 - William H. Nichols Medal, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • 1978 - Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  • 1974 - Linus Pauling Award, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • 1974 - Centenary Prize, Royal Society of Chemistry (UK)
  • 1973 - Arthur C. Cope Award, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • 1972 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 1971 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 1966 - Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Overview

Roald Hoffmann is affiliated with Cornell University in the United States. Their research spans fields of Materials Science, with a particular emphasis on Materials Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Atomic and Molecular Physics and Optics, Geophysics, and Mechanics of Materials.

Their scientific contributions cover a variety of main topics, including:

  • High-pressure geophysics and materials
  • Boron and Carbon Nanomaterials Research
  • Advanced Chemical Physics Studies
  • Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures
  • Energetic Materials and Combustion
  • Academic Freedom and Politics
  • Discourse Analysis in Language Studies

Recent publications by Hoffmann include:

  • Experimental observation of open structures in elemental magnesium at terapascal pressures, 2022, Nature Physics
  • Words Matter: On the Debate over Free Speech, Inclusivity, and Academic Excellence, 2022, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
  • A 21st Century View of Allowed and Forbidden Electrocyclic Reactions, 2023, The Journal of Organic Chemistry
  • Varying Electronic Configurations in Compressed Atoms: From the Role of the Spatial Extension of Atomic Orbitals to the Change of Electronic Configuration as an Isobaric Transformation, 2020, Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation
  • Theoretical Studies of Furan and Thiophene Nanothreads: Structures, Cycloaddition Barriers, and Activation Volumes, 2022, Journal of the American Chemical Society

Hoffmann has published frequently in the following journals:

  • Journal of the American Chemical Society
  • Nature Physics
  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
  • The Journal of Organic Chemistry
  • Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation

The scientist's collaborative efforts include frequent work with coauthors such as:

  • N. W. Ashcroft
  • Sabri Elatresh
  • Stanimir Bonev
  • Carol A. Parish
  • Roberto Cammi

Roald Hoffmann's career has been recognized with multiple awards:

  • Polish Academy of Science, 2017
  • Fellow of the American Chemical Society, 2009
  • James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry, ACS, 2009
  • Member of the European Academy of Sciences, 2007
  • Kołos Medal, University of Warsaw and Polish Chemical Society, 1998
  • George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education, ACS, 1996
  • Priestley Medal, ACS, 1990
  • NAS Award in Chemical Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, 1986
  • Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom, 1984
  • US President's National Medal of Science, 1983
  • Fellow of American Physical Society, 1982
  • William H. Nichols Medal, ACS, 1981
  • Nobel Prize, 1981
  • Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1978
  • Centenary Prize, Royal Society of Chemistry, 1974
  • Linus Pauling Award, ACS, 1974
  • Arthur C. Cope Award, ACS, 1973
  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences, 1972
  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1971
  • Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, 1966

Best Publications

  • An Extended Hückel Theory. I. Hydrocarbons

    Ronald Hoffmann

  • The Conservation of Orbital Symmetry

    R. B. Woodward;Roald Hoffmann

  • Interaction of orbitals through space and through bonds

    Roald Hoffmann

  • Stereochemistry of Electrocyclic Reactions

    R. B. Woodward;Roald Hoffmann

  • Orbital interactions in metal dimer complexes

    P. Jeffrey Hay;Jack C. Thibeault;Roald Hoffmann

  • Building Bridges Between Inorganic and Organic Chemistry (Nobel Lecture)

    Roald Hoffmann

  • Structure and chemistry of bis(cyclopentadienyl)-MLn complexes

    Joseph W. Lauher;Roald Hoffmann

  • Counterintuitive Orbital Mixing in Semiempirical and ab Initio Molecular Orbital Calculations

    J. H. Ammeter;H. B. Buergi;J. C. Thibeault;R. Hoffmann

  • Die Erhaltung der Orbitalsymmetrie

    R. B. Woodward;R. Hoffmann

  • Theory of Polyhedral Molecules. I. Physical Factorizations of the Secular Equation

    Roald Hoffmann;William N. Lipscomb

  • The band structure of the tetracyanoplatinate chain

    Myung-Hwan Whangbo;Roald Hoffmann

  • A Chemical and Theoretical Way to Look at Bonding on Surfaces.

    Roald Hoffmann

  • Transition metal pentacoordination

    Angelo R. Rossi;Roald. Hoffmann

  • Potential high-Tc superconducting lanthanum and yttrium hydrides at high pressure.

    Hanyu Liu;Ivan I. Naumov;Roald Hoffmann;N. W. Ashcroft

  • What Do the Kohn−Sham Orbitals and Eigenvalues Mean?

    Ralf Stowasser;Roald Hoffmann

  • Benzynes, dehydroconjugated molecules, and the interaction of orbitals separated by a number of intervening sigma bonds

    Roald Hoffmann;Akira Imamura;Warren J. Hehre

  • Selection Rules for Concerted Cycloaddition Reactions

    Roald Hoffmann;R. B. Woodward

  • Bonding capabilities of transition metal carbonyl fragments

    Mihai. Elian;Roald. Hoffmann

  • How Chemistry and Physics Meet in the Solid State

    Roald Hoffmann

  • Planar tetracoordinate carbon

    Roald Hoffmann;Roger W. Alder;Charles F. Wilcox

  • Conservation of Orbital Symmetry

    Roald Hoffmann;Robert B. Woodward

Frequent Co-Authors

N. W. Ashcroft
N. W. Ashcroft Cornell University
Xiaodong Wen
Xiaodong Wen Chinese Academy of Sciences
Rolf Gleiter
Rolf Gleiter Heidelberg University
Dean J. Tantillo
Dean J. Tantillo University of California, Davis
Santiago Alvarez
Santiago Alvarez University of Barcelona
Sason Shaik
Sason Shaik Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Kazunari Yoshizawa
Kazunari Yoshizawa Kyushu University
Robert Burns Woodward
Robert Burns Woodward Novartis (Switzerland)
Francis J. DiSalvo
Francis J. DiSalvo Cornell University
Davide M. Proserpio
Davide M. Proserpio University of Milan

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