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Joseph Merola

Professor
Joe Merola
3109 Hahn Hall South

Research Interests

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. In our group, we try to take advantage of many of these properties of organometallic systems to study fundamental reaction chemistry, and to design novel catalyst systems.  Lately, we have discovered that many of our compounds can play a very new role:  anti-microbials and anti-virals – a role that is desperately needed in our time.

  1. Chuong, C.; DuChane, C. M.; Webb, E. M.; Rai, P.; Marano, J. M.; Bernier, C. M.; Merola, J. S.; Weger-Lucarelli, J., Noble Metal Organometallic Complexes Display Antiviral Activity against SARS-CoV-2. Viruses 2021, 13 (6). doi:10.3390/v13060980
  2. Bernier, C. M.; Merola, J. S., Design of Iridium N-Heterocyclic Carbene Amino Acid Catalysts for Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation of Aryl Ketones. Catalysts 2021, 11 (6). doi:10.3390/catal11060671
  3. Bernier, C. M.; DuChane, C. M.; Martinez, J. S.; Falkinham, J. O.; Merola, J. S., Synthesis, Characterization, and Antimicrobial Activity of RhIII and IrIII N-Heterocyclic Carbene Piano-Stool Complexes. Organometallics 2021, 40 (11), 1670-1681. doi:10.1021/acs.organomet.1c00166
  4. Hobart, D. B., Jr.; Berg, M. A. G.; Rogers, H. M.; Merola, J. S., Synthesis, Characterization, and Non-Covalent Interactions of Palladium(II)-Amino Acid Complexes. Molecules 2021, 26 (14). doi:10.3390/molecules26144331
  5. DuChane, C. M.; Karpin, G. W.; Ehrich, M.; Falkinham, J. O.; Merola, J. S., Iridium piano stool complexes with activity against S. aureus and MRSA: it is past time to truly think outside of the box. MedChemComm 2019, 10 (8), 1391-1398. doi:10.1039/c9md00140a
  • College of Arts and Sciences Certificate of Teaching Excellence, Virginia Tech, 1991, 1994, 1997
  • University Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence, Virginia Tech, 1997
  • Member of the Academy of Teaching Excellence, Virginia Tech, 1997
  • William E. Wine Award, Virginia Tech 2013
  • Member of the Academy of Faculty Service, Virginia Tech, 2014
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2015
  • Member of the Academy of Faculty Leadership, Virginia Tech, 2019
  • Teaching/Research Faculty Award for Excellence Access and Inclusion, Virginia Tech, 2019 
  • Fellow of the American Chemical Society, 2019
  • B.S. Carnegie-Mellon University, 1974
  • Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1978
  • Research Chemist, Exxon Research and Engineering Company, 1978
  • Senior Research Chemist, Exxon Research and Engineering Company, 1982
  • Staff Chemist, Exxon Research and Engineering Company, 1985
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Virginia Tech, 1987-1991
  • Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Virginia Tech, 1991-1995
  • Professor, Department of Chemistry, Virginia Tech, 1995-present
  • Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Virginia Tech, 1998-2001
  • Acting Dean of the Graduate School, Virginia Tech, 2001-2002
  • Senior Administrative Fellow in Charge of University Restructuring, Virginia Tech, 2002-2003
  • Chair, Department of Chemistry, 2004-2010