At the 254th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, held on August 20-24 in Washington DC, the symposium “Theoretical Models of Chemical Bonding and Reactivity Spanning the Periodic Table” was held in honor of Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

The symposium offered a broad perspective on recent developments in the field of theoretical chemistry as applied to a wide variety of types of chemical compounds and reactions.  Participants discussed the most recent advances in organic, organometallic, inorganic and biological chemistry, as well as materials at high pressure, and reflected the very broad research interests of that Professor Hoffmann has pursued in his long and distinguished career.  The common thread in his work over the years has been his effort to build bridges between the fields of organic and inorganic chemistry, as all as between chemistry and physics.  A highlight of the symposium was an historical lecture outlining Professor Hoffmann’s role in the development of the Woodward-Hoffmann rules, for which he is perhaps most widely recognized.

The symposium was convened by Professor Eva Zurek (University at Buffalo) and Professor Wojciech Grochala (University of Warsaw). 

A schedule of presentations is available here.

The online program with abstracts may be accessed here.

Picture Caption:  Attendees at the symposium included many of the students, postdoctoral fellows and collaborators Professor Hoffmann has worked with over the course of his career.  Pictured with him in the front row are session chairs Eva Zurek (right) and Wojciech Grochala (left).