When taking undergraduate Organic Chemistry, I had about as much exposure to heterocyclic chemistry (Organic Chemistry of heteroatom containing cyclic compounds) as any other student… not much. Once in graduate school, however, I developed a self-interest in the subject, pushing myself to write and defend a novel research proposal on “The Unified Synthesis of 5- and 6-Membered Nitrogen Heterocycles” using enyne nitriles under radical cyclization conditions. Writing the proposal was easy. Defending it in the presence of a professor who was an expert in nitrogen-centered radicals was challenging. I passed the first time around, and had a strong interest in heterocycles ever since.

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