Professor George A. O|ah

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GEORGE A. OLAH

George A. Olah turned sixty in 1987. An internationally-recognized leader in both organic and physical organic chemistry, he has made pi- oneering contributions to these fields in the latter half of this century. Professor Olaf's major scientific achievements have been in the area of cationic intermediates in organic chemistry. Carbocations and their close relatives are involved in petroleum cracking and refining, coal process- ing, polymerization chemistry, synthetically important solvolysis reac- tions, addition reactions, aromatic substitution, and a variety of biosyn- thetic transformations including steroid synthesis. Thus, this area of chemistry is of pivotal importance from both the commercial and fun- damental points of view. Olah's theoretical and practical contributions to this area make him the preeminent figure in the field.

Carbocations were postulated as reaction intermediates in the early 1930s and direct proof for their existence was an avidly sought goal. In the 1960s Olah developed a number of superacidic, low nucleophilicity systems, which Mlowed direct examination of these elusive species at low temperatures using NMR spectroscopy. His pioneering studies also es- tablished the existence of carbocations involving hypercoordinate carbons and hydrogens (such as CH +) which involve two electron-three-(or multi-) center bonds. The multicenter bonding concept recognized previously, for example, by Longuet-Higgins and Lipscomb in borane chemistry, was practically unexplored in the chemistry of carbon compounds. Olah's methods have gained wide acceptance and are now used worldwide by industrial and academic researchers. The practical applications of his methods are virtually limitless. Thousands of publications have appeared from many laboratories over the last fifteen years making the study of "stable carbocations" one of the most actively pursued fields. Apart from this field Olah also has pioneered mechanistic organic chemistry and de- velopment of synthetic methodologies.

Born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 22, 1927, Olah received his entire education in the same country, and obtained his doctoral degree at Techni- cal Univeristy, Budapest, in 1949, under the guidance of the late Professor Geza Zemplen, whose mentor was Emil Fischer. He joined the Organic Faculty at the Technical University, Budapest, in the same year, and soon rose to become the Associate Scientific Director of the Central Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He left Hungary in 1956 and joined the Dow Chemical Company, first in Canada, and then at their Eastern Research Laboratory in Wayland, Massachusetts, as a senior re- search chemist. In 1965, Olah moved to Cleveland and became professor and chairman of the merged chemistry departments of Case Institute of

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Technology and Western Reserve University. He continued at Case West- ern Reserve University as the C.F. Mabery Distinguished Professor of Research in Chemistry. In 1977, Professor Olah moved to the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where he is currently the Scientific Co-Director and Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Distinguished Profes- sor of Organic Chemistry at the Hydrogen Research Institute.

Olah is a prolific writer. He has published more than 800 scientific papers, holds 80 patents and has been an author/coauthor of nine books and numerous chapters. He has directed some fifty doctoral students and has been associated with nearly 150 post-doctoral research scholars whom he has attracted from all over the world. He is one of the 10 most cited authors in chemistry today (compiled by the Science Citation Index). The astounding volume of fundamental work that has come out of his laboratory is a true inspiration to students and peers alike.

Many honors and awards have been bestowed upon Professor Olah. It is sufficient to mention that he is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and the winner of such prestigious awards as the American Chemical Society's Award for Petroleum Chemistry, and the American Chemical Society Award for Creativity in Synthetic Organic Chemistry. Most recently he received the 1987 Michelson-Morley Award of the Case Institute of Technology.

Olah is married to the former Judith Agnes Lengyel who is also a chemist, and they have two sons. Professor Olah continues to be a source of new ideas and innovative contributions to chemistry, and will, I am sure, continue to inspire chemists all around the world. The first two issues of Volume 9 of Reviews of Chemical Intermediates is respectfully dedicated to honor his sixtieth birthday.

G.K. Surya Prakash University of Southern California Los Angeles, California