Kenichi Fukui

He died on 9 January 1998 at Kyoto in Japan. He was 79 years old at the time of his death.

Kenichi Fukui was born on 4 October 1918 at Nara City in Japan to foreign trader Ryokichi Fukui and his wife Chie Fukui. He had two younger brothers.

During his childhood he was not particularly interested in Chemistry. However, following the advice of Professor Gen-itsu Kita of Kyoto Imperial University, he enrolled in the Department of Industrial Chemistry at the Kyoto Imperial University. He completed his graduation in 1941.

After his graduation, he was involved in experimental research at the Army Fuel Laboratory, Japan during the World War II. He was engaged in the studies regarding synthetic fuel chemistry.

In 1943 he was appointed a lecturer at the department of fuel chemistry at Kyoto Imperial University. He was later promoted as Assistant Professor in 1945 and Professor in 1951. He retained his position as Professor until 1982.

Initially his research was focused on quantum chemistry, physical chemistry and chemical reaction theory. However, in the 1950s he began developing theories regarding the role of electron orbitals in molecular reactions.

In 1952 he presented the Frontier molecular orbital theory that suggested that when chemical reactions occur, electrons that are loose bound are shared among molecules that occupy the frontier orbitals. These might be a pair of orbitals of two molecules or fragments that overlap in order to form a bond.

The term ‘frontier orbitals’ was coined by Kenichi Fukui, that referred to the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO).

Kenichi Fukui was a theoretical chemist known for his work concerning the mechanisms of chemical reactions. His research aided in reducing the gap between practical chemistry and quantum theory. He presented the ‘Frontier Molecular Orbital Theory’, and also coined the term ‘frontier orbitals’.