Author: Jacob Grygus          Major: Chemistry

Jacob Grygus

My name is Jacob Grygus. I am an alumnus of the University of Arkansas. I graduated from the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, specifically the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, with a BS in Chemistry. For my honors research my mentor was Dr. Nan Zheng and I worked under him in his research group.

For my research I worked on investigating the formation of distonic radical cations via cycloaminal reagents. The distonic radical cation is a unique type of radical species which, as its name implies, has both a distal radical and cation functionality. The specifics of the chemistry are quite elaborate, but essentially the main idea of this research is to functionalize the incredibly abundant Carbon-Hydrogen bond in organic synthesis. This process of C-H functionalization can be quite useful as a general method to synthesize complex organic compounds more easily, however, Carbon-Hydrogen bonds are quite inert. To overcome this lack of reactivity, radical intermediates are implemented. A radical is a single electron species which is quite reactive. Essentially by using radicals we can readily functionalize C-H bonds into reactive radical intermediates, allowing us to selectively synthesize a variety of new bonds that would ordinarily be difficult. By studying the reactivity of the distonic radical cation, a unique type of radical species, my research group hopes to further realize its synthetic potential for complex organic synthesis.

This is that my research explores the world of organic chemistry and what is achievable through creative and unique approaches to synthesizing organic molecules. Organic chemistry is one of those subjects which immediately grabbed my attention when I first studied it as a college freshman. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in science, and very early on I was hooked on the idea of pursuing organic research. This passion first developed into my honors thesis project when I was accepted into the summer 2019 REU program at the University of Arkansas. Given my proclivity towards organic chemistry, I was assigned Dr. Nan Zheng as my research mentor for the summer program and I took an immediate interest into his work. The REU was an amazing opportunity to learn valuable laboratory skills as well as learn how graduate students conducted organic research. The lab hours only further increased my fascination with organic research and pursuing science. Before I even finished the REU program I made the decision to transfer to the University of Arkansas to both pursue a chemistry major and continue my work under Dr. Zheng.  I started classes in UARK as a Junior and was eventually accepted into the honors program the fall semester of my senior year. Throughout the REU and in the two years I spent at UARK Dr. Zheng provided invaluable assistance in developing my research project, thinking critically about my work, and perhaps most importantly my ability to write scientifically. Writing is such a key component of scientific research, so Dr. Zheng’s feedback was incredibly useful for the variety of grants, scholarships, reports, and eventually my honors thesis that I had to write.

My project was not without difficulties though. Conducting organic research is quite difficult given the dedication required. Even with careful planning, the majority of the work you do results in failure. True success in research comes from how you evaluate this failure and build upon it, which is much easier said than done. Writing is often very difficult as well, as conveying your research in a compelling manner requires a great deal of thought. It was frustrating at times having to write and rewrite the same material many different times, but with each edit you learn to reflect on your work and view your research in a different way. Through this constant struggle to self-improve I grew in my ability to comprehend and explain scientific data, and it was this effort which assisted me most in my honors thesis. This was by far the most important aspect of my college education, as learning how to think about and write scientific data played a decisive role in my applications for graduate school. Before the end of my senior year I was accepted into three very good schools for chemistry research, and after much thought I accepted admission into Texas A&M University where I will be pursuing my PhD in Chemistry (working in organic chemistry of course).

Overall my experience both in the honors program and being a student at the University of Arkansas has been incredibly helpful in my ability to pursue my passion for research. Only a few short years ago I was wondering how I would have even been able to earn a BS in chemistry let alone pursue graduate research, and I feel privileged to have had the honor to study at this university and work under Dr. Nan Zheng.