My research interests cover a wide range of topics, and I am always willing to work with our undergraduate students on various research projects. During my doctoral work at Colorado State University, my research focus was understanding how cellular genes are accessible and transcribed in the context of the extreme chromatin packaging the DNA must undergo in order to fit into the confines of the nucleus. This packaging greatly limits the accessibility of the DNA and generally has a repressive effect on transcription, yet genes must be rapidly located and transcribed when the cell is faced with sudden changes in environmental conditions. This requires the cell to be able to remodel the chromatin in such a way that the genes can be read and thus proteins made. I studied these questions using various techniques, including X-ray crystallography, FRET, and protein complex analysis.
Since coming to Harding, I have been involved in several projects. I have worked to identify and characterize the hormone/protein (FMS) responsible for increased fat metabolism present in the urine of fasting humans/rats and humans with lipodystrophy. Fat Mobilizing Substance (FMS) activity in fasting human urine has been observed at levels comparable to the activity observed in lipodystrophy and anorexic patients.
During the past several years, I have been involved in projects studying wastewater treatment on the International Space Station with funding from the NASA Space Grant Consortium. Human presence in space requires a self-contained biosphere in which astronauts can work and live. For extended missions these closed systems must be able to clean and disinfect the air and water so that it can be reused. One concern for the designers of this system is the containment of biofilms which have been found to build up on system components and valves. Our research focuses on enhancing the current system of wastewater treatment in space with a reactive oxygen species generator that will break down complex molecules and kill microbes using a combination of UV light and titanium dioxide (which serves as a catalyst). I have also been involved in projects relating to the growth of plants in Martian and lunar regolith. With NASA aiming at sending humans back to the moon, and to Mars within the next 15 years, astronauts will need a way to grow produce food for such a long space flight. Students at Harding are looking at what types of plants can best be grown in Martian and lunar soils to optimize the nutritional content.
Selected Publications:
Hariharalakshmanan, Ranjitha, Ungerbuehler, Dakota, Burke, Thomas, White, Cindy, and Karabacak, Tansel (2022) ZnO nanostructures by hot water treatment for photocatalytic bacterial disinfection. MRS Advances. https://doi.org/10.1557/s43580-022-00305-3
Bao, Y., White, C.L., Luger, K. (2006) Nucleosome Core Particles Containing a Poly (dA∙dT) Sequence Element Exhibit a Locally Distorted DNA Structure. J Mol Biol. Aug 25; 361 (4), 617-24.
White, C.L., and Luger, K. (2004) Defined structural changes occur in a nucleosome upon Amt1 transcription factor binding. J Mol Biol., 342 (5), 1391-402.
White, C.L., Suto, R.K., and Luger, K. (2001) Structure of the yeast nucleosome core particle reveals fundamental changes in internucleosome interactions. EMBO, 20 (18), 5207-5218.
Suto, R.K., Edayathumangalam, R.S., White, C.L., Melander, C., Gottesfeld, J.M., Dervan, P.B., and Luger, K. (2003) Crystal structures of nucleosome core particles in complex with minor groove DNA-binding ligands. J Mol Biol, 326 (2), 371-80.
Muthurajan, U.M., Bao, Y., Forsberg, L.J., Edayathumangalam, R.S., Dyer, P.M., White, C.L., and Luger, K. (2004) Crystal structures of histone SIN mutant nucleosomes reveal altered protein-DNA interactions. EMBO, 23 (2), 260-71.
Dyer, P.N., Edayathumangalam, R.S., White, C.L., Bao, Y., Chakravarthy, S., Muthurajan, U.M., and Luger, K. (2004) Reconstitution of nucleosome core particles from recombinant histones and DNA. Methods Enzymology, 375, 23-44.
Dr. Jonathan E. Dannatt completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry and mathematics at Lyon College, where he participated in a number of research projects, including an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates at Georgetown University. These formative experiences shaped his decision to pursue doctoral study in organic chemistry, and he enrolled at Michigan State University in 2014.
At Michigan State, Dr. Dannatt joined the research group of Professor Robert E. Maleczka, Jr. His dissertation work advanced two lines of inquiry. The first was the development of iridium catalysts for C–H activation and borylation, with particular attention to improving reactivity and site selectivity in transformations that convert otherwise inert aromatic C–H bonds into synthetically versatile carbon‑boron bonds. The second was the synthesis of double‑decker silsesquioxanes, hybrid organic‑inorganic cage compounds whose incorporation confers substantial improvement in the thermal and mechanical properties of polymers. He defended his dissertation, “Advancing Frontiers in Reactive and Selective Iridium C–H Borylation Catalysis and Targeted Silsesquioxane Synthesis,” and received his Ph.D. in July 2019.
Dr. Dannatt joined the faculty of the University of Dallas in August 2019, where he taught the organic chemistry sequence for seven years and established an undergraduate research program in aryne chemistry that supported a succession of student researchers, several of whom have gone on to graduate and professional study. He also secured the university’s first National Science Foundation award in several decades, which supported the integration of course‑based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) into the organic chemistry teaching laboratory, extending authentic research to every student enrolled in the course rather than only to those placed in a faculty laboratory.
He joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Harding University in the fall of 2026, where he teaches Organic Chemistry I and its associated laboratory sections. Dr. Dannatt is pleased to bring his research program to Harding and to continue the mentorship of undergraduate researchers that has defined his career to this point. Current work in his laboratory centers on aryne chemistry and the synthetic utility of these highly strained, reactive intermediates, together with related investigations of hypervalent iodonium salts and boron‑heteroatom bond insertions. He is further interested in extending this chemistry toward biologically relevant systems. Students at all levels interested in undergraduate research are encouraged to contact him.
Dr. Dannatt serves the American Chemical Society as Vice Chair of the Southwest Region and as Chair of the Dallas-Fort Worth Local Section.
Research group: https://dannattlab.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-dannatt/
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Peruzzi, C. D.; Miller, S. L.; Dannatt, J. E.; Ghaffari, B.; Maleczka, R. E., Jr.; Smith, M. R., III “A Hydrazone Ligand for Iridium-Catalyzed C–H Borylation: Enhanced Reactivity and Selectivity for Fluorinated Arenes” Organometallics 2024, 43, 1208. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.organomet.4c00174
Draper, M. R.; Waterman, A., IV; Dannatt, J. E.; Patel, P. “Integrating multiscale and machine learning approaches towards the SAMPL9 log P challenge” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2024, 26, 7907. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3CP04140A
Dannatt, J. E.; Yadav, A.; Smith, M. R., III; Maleczka, R. E., Jr. “Amide directed iridium C(sp3)–H borylation catalysis with high N-methyl selectivity” Tetrahedron 2022, 109, 132578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tet.2021.132578
Baker, A. J.; Dannatt, J. E. “Maintaining an Active Organic Class During the COVID-Induced Online Transition at Two Undergraduate Institutions” J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97, 3235. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00759
Barry, B.-D.; Dannatt, J. E.; King, A. K.; Lee, A.; Maleczka, R. E., Jr. “A general diversity oriented synthesis of asymmetric double-decker shaped silsesquioxanes” Chem. Commun. 2019, 55, 8623. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9CC03972D
Vogelsang, D. F.; Dannatt, J. E.; Schoen, B. W.; Maleczka, R. E., Jr.; Lee, A. “Phase Behavior of cis–trans Mixtures of Double-Decker Shaped Silsesquioxanes for Processability Enhancement” ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2019, 2, 1223. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.8b02114
Vogelsang, D. F.; Dannatt, J. E.; Maleczka, R. E., Jr.; Lee, A. “Separation of Asymmetrically Capped Double-Decker Silsesquioxanes Mixtures” Polyhedron 2018, 155, 189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poly.2018.08.016
Smith, M. R., III; Bisht, R.; Haldar, C.; Pandey, G.; Dannatt, J. E.; Ghaffari, B.; Maleczka, R. E., Jr.; Chattopadhyay, B. “Achieving High Ortho Selectivity in Aniline C–H Borylations by Modifying Boron Substituents” ACS Catal. 2018, 8, 6216. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.8b00641
Chattopadhyay, B.; Dannatt, J. E.; Andujar-De Sanctis, I. L.; Gore, K. A.; Maleczka, R. E., Jr.; Singleton, D. A.; Smith, M. R., III “Ir-Catalyzed ortho-Borylation of Phenols Directed by Substrate–Ligand Electrostatic Interactions: A Combined Experimental/in Silico Strategy for Optimizing Weak Interactions” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 7864. (Highlighted in Synfacts 2017, 13, 862.) https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b02232
Wolf, C.; Cook, A.; Dannatt, J. E. “Enantiodifferentiation of Multifunctional Tertiary Alcohols by NMR Analysis with a Chiral Solvating Agent” Tetrahedron: Asymmetry 2014, 25, 163. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957416613005211
Analytical Chemistry is the subsection of chemistry that pursues very practical questions such as 'What is it?' and 'How much is there?' To answer these questions, Analytical Chemistry works under the tenet that every distinct chemical compound is unique from all other compounds in some facet and thus can be identified, separated, and quantified. From this approach all sorts of systems can be studied ranging from what amount of various metals are in our drinking water to identifying indicators that can be linked to a disease progressing (ex. blood glucose levels often indicate untreated diabetes).
My work has involved using mass spectrometry to monitor rapid, microsecond-scale reactions preformed in droplets. This work includes monitoring exchange of isotopes along various sugars to distinguish them upon mass-to-charge detection as well as developing methodology to generate distinctly sized droplets to alter reaction times.
While still developing my research here at Harding, I anticipate my future research to investigate the use of non traditional ionization sources in mass spectrometry (such as paper spray, leaf spray, and silicon spray) to accomplish analysis of in-the-field environments as well as to further study the capabilities of micron sized droplets as reactors for various chemical processes.
My recent awards include:
2022 Baylor Graduate School Outstanding Graduate Research Award in STEM
2023 Baylor Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate Research Productivity Award
2022 Ron Hites Award from the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry
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