Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff

Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (August 30, 1852 - March 1, 1911) was a Dutch physical and organic chemist and the winner of the inaugural Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Contributions to chemistry and major works

Before receiving his doctorate, Van 't Hoff had already published the first of his important contributions to organic chemistry. He accounted for the phenomenon of optical activity by assuming that the chemical bonds between carbon atoms and their neighbors were directed towards the corners of a regular tetrahedron. This three-dimensional structure perfectly accounted for the isomers found in nature. He shares credit for this idea with the French chemist Joseph LeBel, who independently came up with the same idea.

Related Topics:
Organic chemistry - Optical activity - Chemical bond - Carbon - Atom - Tetrahedron - Isomer - French - Joseph LeBel

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