Opportunities for teaching and research in organic chemistry with Professor Frank B. Mallory:
In the fall, Professor Mallory teaches two sections of the first semester of a standard two-semester course in organic chemistry (a section for undergraduates and a section for postbaccalaureates) with a total enrollment of about 90-100 students; in the spring he teaches an advanced course on organic reaction mechanisms for about 10-15 senior chemistry majors and first-year graduate students, as well as a graduate seminar on current topics in organic chemistry for about 3-5 graduate students.
Professor Mallory's research is in several different areas of experimental organic chemistry: (1) the development of methods for the synthesis of [n]phenacenes, a family of polycyclic aromatic compounds with n fused benzene rings in an extended phenanthrene-like structural array, with the eventual objective of determining whether with sufficiently large values of n these pseudo-one-dimensional molecules ("graphite ribbons") might show interesting and useful properties as materials; (2) studies of the scope and mechanism of the stilbene-to-phenanthrene type of photocyclization reaction; (3) investigations of the phenomenon of "through-space" nuclear spin-spin coupling involving nonbonded interactions between intramolecularly crowded atoms such as
19F, 15N, 13C, and 31P; and (4) the use of spin-relaxation methods, in collaboration with Professor Peter A. Beckmann of the Department of Physics, to determine the influence of molecular structure on the barriers for the rotation of methyl groups in crystalline solids.Professor Mallory's extensive experience at Bryn Mawr provides a broad basis for mentoring young persons seeking an academic career. He chaired the chemistry department for ten years, and was the faculty member responsible for the planning, design, and construction of the College's new chemistry facilities. He has served on many search committees for faculty members and senior administrators, as well as on a wide range of other committees, including those dealing with curriculum, admissions, and promotion and tenure. He has also been an outside advisor and evaluator of chemistry departments at a number of different colleges. He has been on the Advisory Board for the Journal of Organic Chemistry, and is currently serving on the Editorial Advisory Board of Organic Letters.