Daniel Henton, Ph.D. faculty at MSU St. Andrews, conducted research at the Michigan Molecular Institute before joining Michigan State University in 2015. Prior to that, he served the Dow Chemical Company for more than 33 years, conducting research within several business units, including Pharmaceuticals Process Research, Contract Manufacturing Services, and Engineering and Process Science within Core R&D.

Currently, his research is focused on homogeneous, heterogeneous, and enzymatic catalysis, such as Diels-Alder reactions, Friedel-Crafts reactions and chiral resolutions using immobilized lipases. He has synthesized a wide variety of small molecules, including materials for use as redox shuttles in Li-ion batteries. He has also investigated methods for purifying water, including removal of fluoride from water.

His prior work included the development of economic processes for the large-scale production of various pharmaceuticals. He has studied sustainable sourcing of valuable chemical intermediates, including the conversion of carbohydrates into useful furan compounds such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and 5-chloromethylfurfural.

Henton, who earned his doctorate from The Ohio State University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, has published in scholarly journals and holds several patents.