Robert Thomas Sanderson

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| name =R. T. Sanderson

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| birth_date =1912

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| death_date ={{death year and age|1989|1912}}

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| nationality = American

| fields = Inorganic chemistry

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| alma_mater = University of Chicago

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| known_for = Electronegativity equalization

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Robert Thomas Sanderson (1912–1989) was an American inorganic chemist, more commonly known by the initials "R.T." found in his papers.{{cite book|last1=Lalena|first1=John|last2=Cleary|first2=David|title=Principles of Inorganic Materials Design|date=2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780471434184|page=[https://archive.org/details/principlesofinor0000lale/page/105 105]|edition=2|url=https://archive.org/details/principlesofinor0000lale/page/105}} He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago for his research in boron chemistry.{{cite journal|last1=Ostroff|first1=A.G.|title=Recollections of Prof. R.T. Sanderson|journal= Southwest Retort|date=March 1991|volume=44|issue=12|page=7|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc268422/m1/7/|accessdate=21 December 2014}} After working in Texaco's research lab,{{cite journal|last1=Sanderson|first1=R. T.|title=Viscosity-Temperature Characteristics of Hydrocarbons|journal=Industrial & Engineering Chemistry|date=February 1949|volume=41|issue=2|pages=368–374|doi=10.1021/ie50470a027}} he became a professor and spent his career on the faculties of the University of Florida, the University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. He also created a company supplying safety posters and lab-related artwork of his own design, and published several books including Vacuum Manipulation of Volatile Compounds.{{cite book|last1=Sanderson|first1=R.T.|title=Vacuum Manipulation of Volatile Compounds|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.84909|date=1948|publisher=John Wiley and Sons}}

Electronegativity equalization

In 1951, Sanderson developed the idea of electronegativity equalization, stating two bonding atoms will equalize their Mulliken electronegativity. He would later further revise his own scale of electronegativity to adhere to the 4.00 value of fluorine found in the more common Pauling scale, as well as apply his principle to the calculation of polar covalent bonds, calculating partial charges on a number of polar inorganic compounds.{{cite journal|last1=Sanderson|first1=R. T.|title=Electronegativity and Bond Energy|journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society|date=April 1983|doi=10.1021/ja00346a026|volume=105|issue=8|pages=2259–2261}} His electronegativity scale was applied to generating reference information like molecular geometry, s-electron energy, and NMR spin-spin constants for organic compounds.{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s11172-006-0105-6|title=Application of the electronegativity indices of organic molecules to tasks of chemical informatics|year=2005|author=Trofimov, M. I.|journal=Russian Chemical Bulletin|volume=54|pages=2235–2246|last2=Smolenskii|first2=E. A.|issue=9|s2cid=98716956 }}

Electronegativity (Sanderson scale)

References

Category:1912 births

Category:1989 deaths

Category:American inorganic chemists

Category:University of Chicago alumni

Category:20th-century American chemists