Personal Summary

Born in Connecticut, raised in a hockey rink. I spent half of my childhood in New Hampshire and the other half in Wisconsin. Growing up I enjoyed science and sports, but eventually hockey took priority. By the end of high school, I was attracting attention from division one colleges and NHL scouts. However, three knee injuries catalyzed my return to science midway through my undergraduate degree. My undergraduate work involved synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles as well as operating a transmission electron microscope, facilitating collaborative efforts. This turned out to be foreshadowing. During my doctoral studies, under the guidance of Professor Orion Berryman, I served dual roles as the department crystallographer and graduate research assistant. In 2020 I joined the University of Montana as a manager of the NMR and small molecule X-ray diffraction core facilities.

Education

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (2013) -- B.S. Chemistry ACS certified (Advisor: Jennifer Dahl)

University of Montana (2020) – PhD Organic Supramolecular Chemistry (Advisor: Orion Berryman)

Research Interests

All chemistry. I believe the way to innovation is through ‘cross-fertilization’ of different fields. Transformative science can be fostered by going to talks outside your field. The fields I am particularly fond of are crystal engineering, supramolecular chemistry, and uranium sequestration.

Publications

23. Decato, D. A.; Sun, J.; Boller M.R.; Berryman, O.B., “Pushing the Limits of the Hydrogen Bond Enhanced Halogen Bond —The Case of the C–H Hydrogen Bond” Chemical Science 2022,13, 11156-11162. link

22. Riel, A. M. S.; Decato, D. A.; Sun, J.; and Berryman, O.B., “Halogen Bonding Organocatalysis Enhanced through Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonds” Chem. Commun., 2022, 58, 1378-1381. link

22. Stierle, A.; Stierle, D.; Decato, D.; Alverson, J.B.; and Apedaile, L., “Cryptic Biosynthesis of the Berkeleypenostatins from Coculture of Two Extremophilic Penicillium sp.” Journal of Natural Products, 2021, 84, 5, 1656–1665 2021. link

21. Decato, D. A.; Riel, A. M. S.; May, J.H.; Bryantsev, V.S.; Berryman, O.B., "Theoretical, Solid-State and Solution Quantification of the Hydrogen Bond Enhanced Halogen Bond" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 3685. link

20. Turunen, L.; Németh, F. B.; Decato, D. A.; Pápai, I.; Berryman, O.; Erdelyi, M., “Halogen bonding: a world dissimilar to transition metal coordination” Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan 2021 94:1, 191-196. link

19. Decato, D. A.; Riel, A. M. S.; Berryman, O.B., “Structural Analysis of 1,3-bis(4-ethynyl-3-iodopyridinium)-benzene Halogen Bond Donors” Crystals, 2019, 9, 522. link

18. AlAbbad, S.; Sardot, T.; Lekashvili, O.; Decato, D. A.; Lelj, Francesco.; Ross, A.J.B.; Rosenberg, E., “Trans influence and substituent effects on the HOMO-LUMO energy gap and Stokes shift in Ru mono-diimine derivatives” Journal of Molecular Structure, 2019, 1195, 620-631. link

17. Decato, D. A.; Berryman, O. B. "Structural and Computational Characterization of a Bridging Zwitterionic-Amidoxime Uranyl Complex." Organic Chemistry Frontiers, 2019, 6, 1038 – 1043. link

16. Massena, C.J.; Decato, D. A.; Berryman, O.B. "A Long‐Lived Halogen‐Bonding Anion Triple Helicate Accommodates Rapid Guest Exchange." Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2018, 57, 16109–16113. link

15. Wageling, N. B.; Decato, D. A.; Berryman, O. B. "Steric Effects of pH Switchable, Substituted (2-pyridinium)urea Organocatalysts: a Solution and Solid Phase Study." Supramolecular Chemistry, 2018, 30, 1004–1010. link

14. Riel, A. M. S. ‡; Decato, D. A. ‡; Sun, J.; Massena, C.J.; Jessop, M.J.; and Berryman, O.B., “Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonded-Halogen Bond: A New Strategy for Preorganization and Enhancement.” Chemical Science. 2018, 9, 5828–5836. ‡ Co-authors (each author contributed equally). link

13. Hintz H. A.; Sortedahl N. J.; Meyer S. M.; Decato, D. A.; Dahl B. J., “The Synthesis of Lactone-Bridged 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene Derivatives as pi-Expanded Coumarin Triskelions.” Tetrahedron Letters, 2017, 58, 4703-4708. link

12. Stierle, A.; Stierle, D.; Decato, D. A.; Priestley, N. D.; Alverson, J. B.; Hoody, J.; McGrath, K., Klepacki, D., “The Berkeleylactones, Antibiotic Macrolides from Fungal Coculture.” Journal of Natural Products, 2017, 80, 1150-1160. link

11. Pohkrel, S.; Decato, D.A.; Ross, A.J.B.; Terwilliger, M; Rosenberg, E.,  “Synthesis, Structure, Photophysical and Electrochemical Properties of Ru(TFA)(CO)(PPh3)2(L) (L=2-phenylpyridine, 2-p-tolylpyridine) and Ru(CO)(PPhMe2)2(L)(L') (L= TFA, H) (L'= bipyridine, L'= 4,4'-dimethylbipyridine) Relationships Between Ancillary Ligand Structure and Chemical Properties.”  Journal of Organometallic Chemistry, 2017, 849–850, 306-314. link

10. Riel, A. M. S.; Jessop, M. J.; Decato, D. A.; Massena, C. J.; Nascimento, V. R.; Berryman O. B., “Experimental Evidence of Halogen Bond Hard-Soft Acid-Base Complementarity.” Acta Crystallographica Section B, 2017, B73, 203-209. link

9. Waller, A. N.; Weiss, N. M.; Decato, D. A.; Phillips, J. A., “Structural and energetic properties of haloacetonitrile – GeF4 complexes.” Journal of Molecular Structure, 2017, 1130, 984-993. link

8. Massena, C. J.; Wageling, N. B.; Decato, D. A.; Martin Rodriguez, E.; Rose, A. M.; Berryman, O. B. “A Halogen-Bond-Induced Triple Helicate Encapsulates Iodide.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2016, 55, 12398–12402. link

7. Riel, A. M. S.; Decato, D. A.; Berryman, O.B., “Protonation and Alkylation Induced Multidentate C-H Anion Binding to Perrhenate.” Crystal Growth Design, 2016, 16, 974–980. link

6. Wageling, N. B.; Neuhaus, G. F.; Rose, A. M.; Decato, D. A.; Berryman, O. B., “Advantages of Organic Halogen Bonding for Halide Recognition.” Supramolecular Chemistry, 2016, 28, 665-672. link

5. Decato, D. A.; Berryman, O. B., “Crystal Structure of [1,1':3',1''-terphenyl]-2',3,3''-tricarboxylic acid.” Acta Crystallographica Section E. 2015, E71, o667-o668. link

4. Stierle, A.; Stierle, D.; Decato, D. A., “Crystal Structure and Absolute Configuration of Preaustinoid A1.” Acta Crystallographica Section E. 2015, E71, o596-o597. link

3. Stierle, A.; Stierle, D.; Decato, D. A., “Redetermination and Absolute Configuration of Berkeleydione.” Acta Crystallographica Section E. 2015, E71, o248. link

2. Massena, C. J.; Riel, A. M. S.; Neuhaus, G. F.; Decato, D. A.; Berryman, O. B., “Solution and Solid-Phase Halogen and C-H Hydrogen Bonding to Perrhenate.” Chemical Communications. 2015, 51, 1417-1420. link

1. Laskowski, A. E.; Decato, D. A.; Strandwitz, M. S.; Dahl, J. A., Microwave Synthesis of a Bimodal Mixture of Triangular Plate and Spheroidal Silver Nanoparticles. MRS Communications, 2015, 5, 311-317. link

 

BOOK CHAPTERS

3. Decato, D. A.; John, E.; Berryman, O. B., (2021). 1. Introduction to Halogen Bonding; History, Fundamentals, and Highlights. (pp 1-41) Halogen Bonding in Solution. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH.  link

2. Decato, D. A.; Berryman, O. B., (2017). 12. Simultaneous Halogen and Hydrogen Bonding to Carbonyl and Thiocarbonyl Functionality. Multi-Component Crystals: Synthesis, Concepts, Function (pp. 272-288). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. link

1. Riel A. M. S.‡; Wageling, N. B.‡; Decato, D. A.‡; Berryman, O.B., Anion–Arene Interactions and the Anion–π Phenomenon. In Reference Module in Chemistry, Molecular Sciences and Chemical Engineering, Elsevier, 2016, ISBN 9780124095472.  ‡ authors contributed equally link

Hobbies

Mountain biking, cyclocross, fishing, Zwift