Headshot of Dr.Jeffrey I. Seeman

Dr. Jeffrey I. Seeman

Visiting Research Scholar
Curriculum Vitae

  • Profile

    Dr. Seeman's professional activities include research in the history and sociology of science including responsible conduct of research. He also produces and directs videos for educational and historical purposes.

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    • Presentations

      “Recent Advances in the History of Chemistry,” American Chemical Society National Meeting, August 27, 2019, San Diego, CA

      “Was Plagiarism Involved in the Development of the Woodward-Hoffmann Rules (Which Led to the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry)?” September 4, 2019, University of Connecticut.

      “Responsible Conduct of Research for Today’s Scientists.  Relevant and Exemplary Stories from the History of Chemistry,” September 20, 2019, Kennesaw State University.

      “The Fourth Dimension in the Third Dimension in Chemistry.  Mobile Stereochemistry,” American Chemical Society National Meeting, March 18, 2024, New Orleans, LA.

  • Selected Publications
    Journal Articles

    Effect of Conformational Change on Reactivity in Organic Chemistry Evaluations, Applications, and Extensions of Curtin-Hammett/Winstein-Holness Kinetics, Chem. Rev. 1983, 83, 83-134. 

    Recent Studies on Conformational Analysis and Steric Effects, Pure Appl. Chem. 1987, 59, 1661-1672. 

    The Woodward-Doering/Rabe-Kindler Total Synthesis of Quinine: Setting the Record Straight, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2007, 46, 1378-1413. 

    Students Inspiring Students.  An On-line Tool for Science Fair Participants, The Science Teacher, 2011, 78. 39-43 [with T. Lawrence]. 

    Gilbert Stork:  In his Own Words and in the Musings of his Friends, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2012, 51, 3012-3023. 

    Guest Editorial:  Estate Planning, Chemical & Engineering News, 2012, 90 (December 30), 3. 

    Having Fun with the Nozoe Autograph Books. A Bit of Exploration and an Unintended Learning Experience, The Chemical Record, 2013, 13, 146-160. 

    Carl Djerassi’s Search For Home.  At 90, Highly Celebrated Chemist and Author Has a Burning Quest to Belong, Chemical & Engineering News, 2013, 91 (October 21), Front Cover, 10-11, 13-14. 

    Ernest L. Eliel, 1921 – 2008, Biographical Memoirs for the National Academy of Sciences, 2014, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.; pp. 1-13, 
    http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/eliel-ernest.pdf. 

    Conflict Resolution and Authorship Issues in the U.S. Chemical Academic Community [with Mark C. House], Accountability in Research, 2015, 22, 346-383. 

    Woodward-Hoffmann’s Stereochemistry of Electrocyclic Reactions: From Day 1 to the JACS Receipt Date (May 5, 1964 to November 30, 1964), J. Org. Chem. 2015, 80, 11632-11671. 

    John D. Roberts:  In His Own Words and Those of His Friends, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2015, 54, 15901-15913. 

    Wrong But Seminal, Nature Chemistry, 2016, 8, 193-200 [with S. Cantrill]. 

    R. B. Woodward: A Larger Than Life Chemistry Rock Star, Angew. Chemie. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 10228-10245. 

    Moving Past a Seminal Generation in the History of Chemistry, Bull. Hist. Chem. 2017, 42, 79-80. 

    A Model to Estimate the Sources of Tobacco Specific Nitrosamines in Cigarette Smoke, Chem. Res. Toxicol. 2017, 30, 1556-1561. 

    Synthesis and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nature Chem. 2017, 9, 925-929. 

    Moving Beyond Insularity in the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Chemistry, Found. Chem., 2018, 20, 75-86. 

    Multiple Independent Errors:  A Parallelism to Robert K. Merton’s “Multiple Independent Discoveries”, Found. Chem. 2018, 20, 219-249. 

    On the Relationship between Classical Structure Determination and Retrosynthetic Analysis/Total Synthesis, Isr. J. Chem. 2018, 58, 28-44. 

    Peer Review of Mendeleev’s 1869 Breakthrough Paper:  “I Suggest Eliminating the Table . . . ”, Helv. Chim. Acta 2019, 102, 4560-4564 (e1800177 (1-5)). 

    The Mutation of the “Nobel Prize in Chemistry” into the “Nobel Prize in Chemistry or Life Sciences”:  Several Decades of Transparent and Opaque Evidence of Change within the Nobel Prize Program, Angew. Chemie Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 2942-2961 [with Guillermo Restrepo]. 

    From Decades to Minutes.  Steps Toward the Structure of Strychnine, 1910 – 1948, and the Application of Today’s Technology, Angew. Chemie. Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 10702-10721 [with D. Tantillo]. 

    Rolf Huisgen, Eminent Chemist and Polymath (1920 – 2020) In His Own Words and In His Publication Metrics, Angew. Chemie. Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 12250-12266 [with G. Restrepo]. 

    Rolf Huisgen’s Classic Studies of Cyclic Triene Diels-Alder Reactions Elaborated by Modern Computational Analysis, Angew. Chemie. Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 12506-12519 [with P.-P. Chen and K. N. Houk]. 

    Evolution of the Diels-Alder Reaction Mechanisms Since the 1930s: Woodward, Houk with Woodward, and the Influence of Computational Chemistry on Understanding Cycloadditions, Angew. Chemie. Int. Ed., 2021, 60, 12660-12681 [with K. N. Houk, F. Liu, and Z. Yang]. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202001654.

    “For its Size, the Most Complex Natural Product Known.” Who Deserves Credit for Determining the Structure of Strychnine? ACS Cent. Sci. 2022, 1-10; doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.1c01348.

    The Ways of Science Through the Lens of the Woodward-Hoffmann Rules. The Stories Begin, Chem. Rec., 2022, 22, 1-22; doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202100211.

    A Sleeping Beauty in Chemistry. Oosterhoff, Havinga and Schlatmann, Four Years Before “The Woodward-Hoffmann Rules,” Chem. Rec., 2022, 22, 1-25; doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202100245.

    Kenichi Fukui, Frontier Molecular Orbital Theory, and the Woodward-Hoffmann Rules. Part II. A Sleeping Beauty in Chemistry, Chem. Rec., 2022, 22, 1-30; doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202100300.

    The Many Chemists Who Could Have Proposed the Woodward-Hoffmann Rules (Including Roald Hoffmann) But Didn’t: The Theoretical and Physical Chemists, Chem. Rec., 2022, 22, 1-45; doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202200052.

    Five Decades of Dispute. A Triptych: Why Woodward? Chem. Rec., 2022, 22, 1-56; doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202200150.

    Why Hoffmann? The Person and the Young Chemical Physicist, Chem. Rec., 2022, 22, 1-30; doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202200196.

    The Many Chemists Who Could Have Proposed the Woodward-Hoffmann Rules But Didn’t: The Organic Chemists Who Discovered the Smoking Guns, Chem. Rec., 2022, 22, 1-67; doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202200065.

    Percy Lavon Julian: A Man Who Rose to Every Occasion, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2022, 119, 1-4; e2208883119; doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2208883119.

    Understanding Chemistry: From “Heuristic (Soft) Explanations and Reasoning by Analogy” to “Quantum Chemistry,” Chem. Sci., 2022, 11461-11486; doi: 10.1039/d2sc02535c [with Dean Tantillo].

    The Uncertain Role of Nominations in the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.  Chem. Eur. J. 2023, 29, 1-15.  DOI: 10.1002/chem.202203985 [with G. Restrepo].

    Revolutions in Chemistry:  Assessment of Six 20th Century Candidates (The Instrumental Revolution; Hückel Molecular Orbital Theory; Hückel’s 4n+2 Rule; the Woodward-Hoffmann Rules; Quantum Chemistry; and Corey’s Retrosynthetic Analysis), J. Am. Chem. Soc. Au, 2023, 3, 2378-2401; doi.org/10.1021/jacsau.3c00278.

    Guest Editorial: Celebrating Carl Djerassi, Chem. Eng. News, 2023, 101 (October 23), 2; https://cen.acs.org/people/Guest-Editorial-Celebrating-Carl-Djerassi/101/i35 [with R. Hoffmann, B. Z. Shakhashiri, and R. N. Zare].

    A 21st Century View of Allowed and Forbidden Electrocyclic Reactions, J. Org. Chem.  2024, 89, 1018-1034; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.joc.3c02103 [with Q. Zhou, G. Kukier, I. Gordiy, R. Hoffmann, and K. N. Houk].