Ph.D. - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1978
B.S. - Carnegie-Mellon University, 1974
Full Professor - Department of Chemistry, Virginia Tech, 1995

The study of organometallic chemistry, an area that bridges inorganic and organic disciplines, has found remarkable utility in many diverse applications. Organometallic compounds themselves, which consist of metals bonded to organic groups, can teach us a great deal about fundamental bonding properties. The effect that binding an organic group to a metal has on that organic fragment's reactivity can be exploited in developing new catalysts for organic reactions. When it is difficult to study the reaction of a molecule on a metal surface in a heterogeneous catalyst system, it may be possible to infer how the reaction is taking place by studying suitably designed organometallic compounds as models. In our group, we try to take advantage of many of these properties of organometallic systems to study fundamental reaction chemistry, to design novel catalyst systems, and to use organometallic compounds as precursors to more complex materials.

1. Intramolecular Diel-Alder Reactions of the Furan Diene (IMDAF); Rapid Construction of Highly Functionalized Isoquinoline Skeletons. Hudlicky, T.; Butora, G.; Fearnley, S.; Gum, A.; Persichini, P.J.; Stabile, M.; Merola, J.S. J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1995, 2393-8.
2. Additions of Carbanions to tris-(trimethylphosphine)(cyclooctadiene)iridium(I) Chloride: Three Different Modes of Reaction Depending on Nature of the Carbanion. Frazier, J. F.; Anderson, F. E.; Clark, R.; Merola, J.S. Inorg. Chim. Acta 1994, 222, 135-143 (this was an invited paper for a special volume).
3. Microbial Oxidation of Aromatics in Enantiocontrolled synthesis. Part 1. Expedient and General Asymmetric Synthesis of Ionositols and Carbohydrates via an Unusual Oxidation of a Polarized Diene with Potassium Permanganate. Hudlicky, T.; Mandel, M.; Roude, J.; Lee, R. S.; Bachmann, B.; Dudding, T.; Yost, K. J.; Merola, J. S. J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans 1, 1994, 1553-67.
4. Pentamethylcyclopentadienylrhodium bis-carboxylates: monohapto carboxylate coordination, dihapto carboxylate coordination and water coordination to CpRh. Boyer, P. M.; Roy, C. P.; Bielski, J. M.; Merola, J. S. Inorg. Chim. Acta, 1996, 245, 7-15.
5. Synthesis and Properties of Cholesteryl Esters Bearing 32- and 16-Membered Crown Ethers. Nagvekar, D. S.; Delaviz, Y.; Prasad, A.; Merola, J. S.; Marand, H.; Gibson, H. W. J. Org. Chem., 1996, 61, 1211-1218.