Henry A. Bent
Physical chemist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henry A. Bent (December 21, 1926 – January 3, 2015)[1] was a professor of physical chemistry who studied molecular orbitals to develop atomic hybridization and valence bond theories.[2] Bent's rule, which predicts the orbital hybridization of a central atom as a function of the electronegativities of the substituents attached to it, is named for him.
Henry A. Bent | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 21, 1926 |
| Died | January 3, 2015 (aged 88) |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1952) |
| Awards | George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education (1980) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Connecticut
University of Minnesota (1958-69) North Carolina State University, Raleigh (1969-89) University of Pittsburgh (1989-92) |
In thermodynamics he developed a global approach now known as "entropy analysis" for the entropy component of thermodynamic free energy in relation to the second law of thermodynamics and the spontaneity of various chemical processes.[3]
Bent was also interested in the periodic laws of the elements and promoted the left-step periodic table based on orbital-filling rules.[4]
