Donald Group: Physical and Bioanalytical Chemistry

Research interests

The Donald Group develops and applies mass spectrometry to investigate the structure, interactions and reactivity of small molecules, proteins and protein complexes. We combine experimental chemistry, instrument development and computational analysis to address fundamental questions in physical and biological chemistry.

Our research connects fundamental studies of ions and ionisation with the development of new measurement methods. Applications include protein characterisation, methods for early-stage drug discovery, and chemical analysis for health and the environment.

Group photographs

Selected publications

1. Zhang, C.; Violi, J. P.; Hansen, C. S.; Donald, W. A. Reactive Ions in Aqueous Electrospray Microdroplet Experiments Originate from Electrical Discharge. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2026, 148, 20254-20261.

2. Violi, J. P.; Westerhausen, M. T.; Tasevski, B.; Kundu, P.; Donald, W. A. Toxic metals and carcinogens in tattoo inks available in Australia. Journal of Hazardous Materials 2026, 502, 140874.

3. Violi, J. P.; Zhang, C.; Donald, W. A. Reduced Pressure Ionization Enhances Native Mass Spectrometry of Proteins and Protein Complexes. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2025, 64, e202509631.

4. Hua, L.; Solomon, M. B.; D’Alessandro, D. M.; Donald, W. A. Dual-functional metal-organic frameworks for adsorptive removal and ultra-trace quantitation of 50 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in water. Journal of Hazardous Materials 2025, 494, 138679.

5. Zhang, C.; Violi, J. P.; Hansen, C. S.; Donald, W. A. Supercharging Proteins to Near the Theoretical Limit via Reduced Pressure Ionization. Analytical Chemistry 2025, 97, 16565-16572.

6. Baker, M. J.; Gordon, J.; Thiruvarudchelvan, A.; Yates, D.; Donald, W. A. Rapid, non-invasive breath analysis for enhancing detection of silicosis using mass spectrometry and interpretable machine learning. Journal of Breath Research 2025, 19, 026011.

7. Huang, X.; Kamadurai, H.; Siuti, P.; Ahmed, E.; Bennett, J. L.; Donald, W. A. Oligomeric Remodeling by Molecular Glues Revealed Using Native Mass Spectrometry and Mass Photometry. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2023, 145, 14716-14726.

8. Zhang, J. D.; Xue, C.; Kolachalama, V. B.; Donald, W. A. Interpretable Machine Learning on Metabolomics Data Reveals Biomarkers for Parkinson’s Disease. ACS Central Science2023, 9, 1035-1045.

9. Bennett, J. L.; Nguyen, G. T. H.; Donald, W. A. Protein-Small Molecule Interactions in Native Mass Spectrometry. Chemical Reviews 2022, 122, 7327-7385.

10. Nguyen, G. T. H.; Bennett, J. L.; Liu, S.; Hancock, S. E.; Winter, D. L.; Glover, D. J.; Donald, W. A. Multiplexed Screening of Thousands of Natural Products for Protein-Ligand Binding in Native Mass Spectrometry. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2021, 143, 21379-21387.