Robert Thomas Sanderson

Robert Thomas Sanderson (1912–1989) was an American inorganic chemist, more commonly known by the initials "R.T." found in his papers. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago for his research in boron chemistry. After working in Texaco's research lab, 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.

R. T. Sanderson
Born	1912
Died	1989 (aged 76–77)
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Known for	Electronegativity equalization
Scientific career
Fields	Inorganic chemistry

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. His electronegativity scale was applied to generating reference information like molecular geometry, s-electron energy, and NMR spin-spin constants for organic compounds.

Electronegativity (Sanderson scale)

v t e Electronegativity using the Sanderson scale
Group →	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
↓ Period
1	H 2.592																	He
2	Li 0.670	Be Ⅰ1.56 Ⅱ1.81											B Ⅰ1.53 Ⅱ2.19 Ⅲ2.28	C 2.746	N 3.194	O 3.654	F 4.000	Ne 4.50
3	Na 0.560	Mg 1.318											Al Ⅰ0.84 Ⅱ1.63 Ⅲ1.71	Si Ⅰ2.08 Ⅲ1.99 Ⅳ2.14	P 2.515	S 2.957	Cl 3.475	Ar 3.31
4	K 0.445	Ca Ⅰ1.13 Ⅱ0.95	Sc Ⅱ0.64 Ⅲ1.02	Ti Ⅱ0.73 Ⅲ1.09 Ⅳ1.50	V Ⅱ0.69 Ⅲ1.39 Ⅳ1.89 Ⅴ2.51	Cr Ⅱ1.24 Ⅲ1.66 Ⅳ2.29 Ⅴ2.83 Ⅵ3.37	Mn Ⅱ1.66 Ⅲ2.20 Ⅳ2.74 Ⅴ3.28 Ⅵ3.82 Ⅶ4.36	Fe Ⅱ1.64 Ⅲ2.20	Co Ⅱ1.96 Ⅲ2.56 Ⅳ3.10	Ni Ⅱ1.94 Ⅲ2.73 Ⅳ3.27 Ⅴ3.81	Cu 2.03 Ⅱ1.98	Zn 2.223	Ga Ⅰ0.86 Ⅲ2.42	Ge Ⅱ0.56 Ⅳ2.62	As 2.816	Se 3.014	Br 3.219	Kr 2.91
5	Rb 0.312	Sr 0.721	Y Ⅱ0.40 Ⅲ0.65	Zr Ⅱ0.52 Ⅲ0.79 Ⅳ0.90	Nb Ⅱ0.77 Ⅲ1.02 Ⅳ1.25 Ⅴ1.42	Mo Ⅱ0.90 Ⅲ1.15 Ⅳ1.40 Ⅴ1.73 Ⅵ2.20	Tc	Ru	Rh	Pd	Ag 1.826	Cd Ⅰ0.71 Ⅱ1.97	In 2.138	Sn Ⅱ1.49 Ⅳ2.30	Sb 2.458	Te 2.618	I 2.778	Xe 2.34
6	Cs 0.220	Ba 0.651		Hf Ⅱ0.31 Ⅲ0.56 Ⅳ0.81	Ta Ⅱ0.44 Ⅲ0.69 Ⅳ0.94 Ⅴ1.17	W Ⅱ0.73 Ⅲ0.98 Ⅳ1.23 Ⅴ1.48 Ⅵ1.67	Re	Os	Ir	Pt	Au	Hg 2.29 2.195	Tl Ⅰ0.99 Ⅲ2.25	Pb Ⅱ1.92 Ⅳ2.29	Bi 2.342	Po	At	Rn
7	Fr	Ra		Rf	Db	Sg	Bh	Hs	Mt	Ds	Rg	Cn	Nh	Fl	Mc	Lv	Ts	Og
			La 0.154	Ce Ⅲ0.203 Ⅳ0.410	Pr 0.243	Nd 0.284	Pm 0.334	Sm 0.370	Eu 0.405	Gd 0.469	Tb 0.502	Dy 0.565	Ho 0.595	Er 0.641	Tm 0.698	Yb 0.739	Lu 0.773
			Ac	Th	Pa	U	Np	Pu	Am	Cm	Bk	Cf	Es	Fm	Md	No	Lr
See also: Electronegativities of the elements (data page)