Dr. Jeffrey I. Seeman
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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.
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Presentations
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Selected Publications
Journal Articles
The Woodward-Doering/Rabe-Kindler Total Synthesis of Quinine: Setting the Record Straight, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2007, 46, 1378-1413.
The Possible Role of Ammonia on the Transfer of Nicotine from Tobacco to Mainstream Smoke. Toxicity of Ammonia and the Bioavailability of Nicotine to Smokers, Food Chem. Toxicol., 2008, 46, 1863-1881 [with R. A. Carchman].
Book Review: ‘The Dyson Perrins Laboratory and Oxford Organic Chemistry 1916 – 2004,” by Curtis, C. Leith, J. Nall and J. Jones, Bulletin for the History of Chemistry 2009, 34, 148-151.
Influences on Authorship Issues. An Evaluation of Receiving, Not Receiving, and Rejecting Credit, Account. Res. 2010, 17, 176-197 [with M. C. House].
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.
Carl Djerassi’s Search For Home. At 90, Highly Celebrated Chemist and Author Has a Burning Quest to Belong, Chem. Eng. News, 2013, 91 (October 21), Front Cover, 10-11, 13-14.
Carl Djerassi: In His Own Words, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2014, 53, 3268-3279.
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.
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. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201702635
Multiple Independent Errors: A Parallelism to Robert K. Merton’s “Multiple Independent Discoveries”, Found. Chem. 2018, 20, 219-249. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-018-9304-0
Working with Sir Derek H. R. Barton. “Chemistry, through Chemistry and For Chemistry”, Tetrahedron 2019, 75, 57-69. DOI: 10.1016/j.tet.2018.11.004
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]. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201906266
On the Structural Assignments Underlying R. B. Woodward’s Most Personal Data That Led to the Woodward-Hoffmann Rules: Subramania Ranganathan’s Key Role and Related Research by E. J. Corey and Alfred G. Hortmann, Chem. Eur. J., 2021, 27, 7000-7016 [with D. Tantillo]. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202002924
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.
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.
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.
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]/
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].
Eureka! Moments Experienced by Chemists. Hints at Enhancing One’s Own Creativity, ACS Cent. Sci. 2024, 10, 1980-1996; doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.4c00802 [with J. Wu].
How the Nobel Committee for Chemistry Has Shaped the Nobel Prize: Historical Trends Based on the Nobel Nomination Archive, ACS Omega, 2025, 10, 20078-20094, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.4c08461 [with G. Restrepo].
Woodward and Hoffmann on Secondary Orbital Interactions. How to Make a Fine Two-Course Meal from Leftovers, Chem. Rec. 2025, 25, doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202400051.
Is It Still Considered Plagiarism If The Material Was Already Published By a Third Party? Account. Res. 2026, e2652499; doi: 10.1080/08989621.2026.2652499 [with M. C. House].
Creating a Masterpiece. The Road to (and Beyond) Woodward and Hoffmann’s 1969 Angewandte Chemie Treatise, Chem. Rec. 2026, 26, e202500107; doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202500107