Kenichi Fukui

Kenichi Fukui (福井謙一 Fukui Ken'ichi, October 4 1918 – January 9 1998) was a Japanese chemist.

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Kenichi Fukui was co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1981 with Roald Hoffman, for their independent investigations into the mechanisms of chemical reactions. His prize-winning work focused on the role of frontier orbitals in chemical reactions: specifically that molecules share loosely bonded electrons which occupy the frontier orbitals, that is the Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) and the Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO).

He was professor of physical chemistry at Kyoto University from 1951 to 1982, president of the Kyoto Institute of Technology between 1982 and 1988, and a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.

List of books available in English

• Theory of orientation and stereoselection (1975)
• An Einstein dictionary Sachi Sri Kantha ; foreword by Kenichi Fukui (1996)
• Frontier orbitals and reaction paths : selected papers of Kenichi Fukui(1997)
• The science and technology of carbon nanotubes edited by Kazuyoshi Tanaka, Tokio Yamabe, Kenichi Fukui(1999)