Hammett equation
Introducing the power to predict how structure affects reactivity
Sometime in the 1990s, physical organic chemistry became unfashionable. Unluckily, this occurred just as yours truly emerged from University College London’s Christopher Ingold Laboratories as a freshly minted practitioner in the art of a good mechanistic investigation.
But at that time, organic chemistry was becoming a creative art form, and physical organic chemistry was falling out of fashion.
Oh well. I would have to sharpen my synthetic skills and get acquainted with some pesky ‘named reactions’. I had the tools to do it – my training in reaction mechanism would underpin all I later learnt of synthesis and was the happy legacy of Ingold at UCL. He is credited as a major player in the early development of physical organic chemistry as a sub-discipline, alongside the biggest player of all – Louis Plack Hammett. And the Hammett equation? Well yes, I knew that one.