

Want to understand organic chemistry? Think Legos.
In the fall of 2019, we learned that organic chemists at Ohio State had made a scientific discovery that could change the way a number of drugs are produced — possibly making it easier and quicker to produce some medicines.
The senior author of that study was David Nagib, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry who manages a research laboratory of more than a dozen people, including post-doctorate researchers, doctoral candidates and undergraduates.
They call it the Nagib Lab and describe their work as “harnessing radicals for complex organic molecule synthesis.” Complicated for sure. But Nagib broke down that work for Insights and showed us how organic chemistry is a lot like playing with Legos. Or pairing up at a middle school dance. Or a … well, you’ll see.
I don’t have one of these stories where I wanted to be a chemist since childhood. Based on my love of Legos, I probably would have become an architect. Then, my sophomore year in college, I took organic chemistry, where I had an inspiring teacher and was hooked on its problem-solving nature. Plus, I loved using a molecular model kit to visualize chemical reactions. It was the only class that ever gave me a three-dimensional, puzzle-like study guide.
