• Postdoctoral Research Scientist, University at Buffalo, 2008-2011
• PhD, University of Washington, 2007
• BS, Arizona State University, 2001

• Chemical crystallography
• Steady-state and time-resolved X-ray diffraction (TR-XRD)
• Time-resolved microscopy / spectroscopic imaging
• Nano-scale materials chemistry
• Light-induced structural changes and chemical reactions

From light-based computing and communication to the environmentally-friendly and cost-effective conversion of light from the sun into fuels and/or electrical energy, understanding and controlling the interaction of light and matter remains one of the great scientific challenges of the 21st century. With an emphasis on the study of light-matter interactions in crystalline materials, research in the Benedict lab involves the synthesis of novel materials and the development of new characterization techniques important to many areas of chemistry and physics:

• Developing novel stimuli-responsive crystalline nanoporous materials.
• Fabricating new devices for in situ X-ray diffraction experiments including guest exchange and photocrystallography.
• Designing and constructing versatile microscopes for time-resolved spectroscopy and imaging and improved pumping in TR-XRD experiments.
• Exploring the effect of the local chemical environment on the nucleation and growth of photoproducts in solid-state chemical reactions and phase transitions.

• A versatile environmental control cell for in situ guest exchange single crystal diffraction. J. M. Cox, I. M. Walton, C. A. Benson, Y.-S. Chen, J. B. Benedict*, J. Appl. Cryst., 48, 578-581 (2015).
• The temperature dependent photoswitching of a classic diarylethene monitored by in situ X-ray diffraction. J. M. Cox, I. M. Walton, D. G. Patel, M. Xu, Y.-S. Chen, J. B. Benedict*, J. Phys. Chem. A., 119, 884-888 (2015).
• Extreme red shifted SERS nanotags SERS, M. A. Bedics, H. Kearns, J. M. Cox, S. Mabbott, F. Ali, N. C. Shand, K. Faulds, J. B. Benedict, D. Graham*, M. R. Detty*, Chemical Science,  6, 2302-2306 (2015).
• Polymorphism and the influence of crystal structure on the luminescence of the opto-electronic material 4,4’-bis(9-carbazolyl)biphenyl. C. Gleason, J. Cox, I. Walton, J. Benedict*, CrystEngComm, 16, 7621-7625 (2014).
• Seven-Coordinate Co(II), Fe(II) and Six-Coordinate Ni(II) Amide-Appended Macrocyclic Complexes as ParaCEST Agents in Biological Media. A. Olatunde, J. Cox, M. Daddario, J. Spernyak, J. Benedict, J. Morrow*, Inorg. Chem., 53, 8311-8321 (2014).
• Photoresponsive porous materials: the design and synthesis of photochromic diarylethene-based linkers and a metal-organic framework. D. G. Patel, I. M. Walton, J. M. Cox, C. J. Gleason, D. R. Butzer, J. B. Benedict*, Chem. Commun., 50, 2653-2656 (2014).
• Photo-responsive MOFs: light-induced switching of porous single crystals containing a photochromic diarylethene. I. M. Walton, J. M. Cox, J. A. Coppin, , C. M. Linderman, D. G. Patel, J. B. Benedict*, Chem. Commun., 49, 8012-8014 (2013).
• Organotellurium fluorescence probes for redox reactions: 9-aryl-3,6-diaminotelluroxanthylium dyes and their telluroxides, M. W. Kryman, G. A. Schamerhorn, K. Yung, B. Sathyamoorthy, D. K. Sukumaran, T. Y. Ohulchanskyy, J. B. Benedict*, M. R. Detty*, Organometallics, 32(15), 4321-4333 (2013).
• Tautomerism in 10-(hydroxyimino)phenanthren-9-one, D. G. Patel, J. B. Benedict*, Acta Cryst. E, 68, o2871 (2012).
• Crystals in materials science, D. G. Patel and J. B. Benedict*. Recent Advances in Crystallography, Jason B. Benedict* (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-51-0754-5, 125-142, InTech (2012).
• Improved mode assignment for molecular crystals through anisotropic terahertz spectroscopy, R. Singh, D. K. George, J. B. Benedict, T. M. Korter, A. G. Markelz, J. Phys. Chem. A, 116, 10359-64 (2012).