Jacob Smith
Technical Advisor
Jacob Smith joined Ropes and Gray in March of 2022 as a technical advisor supporting the intellectual property practice group in litigation and transactional endeavors. Jacob has experience in synthetic chemistry as applied to pharmaceutical development, developing imaging reagents for microscopy applications and in studying the physical properties of transition metal complexes.
After receiving his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Chicago with general honors, Jacob worked as a chemist in manufacturing and quality control roles within the chemical industry. After matriculating to the University of Virginia for his doctoral studies, Jacob developed new synthetic methodologies to generate small molecule drug leads. This research utilized electron-rich transition metal fragments that enabled aromatic molecules to undergo novel organic transformations.
After the defense of his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 2020, Jacob worked as a research associate at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute – Janelia Research Campus. While there, he worked on generating new classes of fluorescent molecules to serve as molecular probes for biological systems. He also worked on developing contrast reagents for electron microscopy applications.
Publications
- Co-first author, “Experiments and Direct Dynamics Simulations that Probe η2-Arene/Aryl Hydride Equilibria of Tungsten Benzene Complexes,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2020)
- First author, “η2-Coordination of Electron-Deficient Arenes with Group 6 Dearomatization Agents,” Organometallics (2020)
- First author, “Preparation of Cyclohexene Isotopologues and Stereoisotopomers from Benzene,” Nature (2020)
- Co-author, “Molybdenum-Promoted Synthesis of Isoquinuclidines with Bridgehead -CF3 Groups,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2019)
- Co-author, “Electron-Transfer Chain Catalysis of η2-Arene, η2-Alkene, and η2-Ketone Exchange on Molybdenum,” ACS Catalysis (2019)
- Co-author, “Highly Functionalized Cyclohexenes Derived from Benzene: Sequential Tandem Addition Reactions Promoted by Tungsten,” J. Org. Chem. (2019)
- Co-author, “Enantioenriched Molybdenum Dearomatization: Dissociative Substitution with Configurational Stability,” Organometallics (2018)
- Co-author, “Molybdenum(0) Dihapto-Coordination of Benzene and Trifluorotoluene: The Stabilizing and Chemo-Directing Influence of a CF3 Group,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2017)
Education
- PhD (Chemistry), University of Virginia, 2020
- BS (Chemistry), general honors, The University of Chicago, 2014
Admissions / Qualifications
Qualifications
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Agent, 2022