While stationed at Fort Douglas, Izatt studied at the University of Utah and in 1951, he received a bachelor of science in chemistry.
Izatt and James J. Christensen, a chemical engineer, founded a thermochemical institute at BYU to promote and facilitate interdisciplinary research.
[5] Izatt and his colleagues, James J. Christensen and John L. Oscarson constructed and used a variety of novel high precision calorimeters to study a number of host and guest chemical systems of both academic and commercial interest.
[26][27][28] Izatt and Christensen made the first extensive thermodynamic study using titration calorimetry of the highly selective metal complexation properties of metal-cyclic polyether interactions.
Izatt demonstrated that certain 8-¬hydroxyquinoline derivatives attached to diazamacrocycles elicit a strong fluorescent response when complexed to selected closed-shell metal ions.
[citation needed] Izatt and his colleagues were the first to attach macrocycles to a solid matrix and make highly selective metal separations.
In the 1960s, Izatt and Christensen developed high-precision titration calorimeters capable of simultaneously measuring equilibrium constants and heats for chemical reactions rapidly and with precision.
IBC commercialized work in chemical separations using an environmentally safe process based on molecular recognition technology (MRT).
[40][42][43][44][45] IBC's MRT products are effective in the remediation of radioactive waste, selectively separating and concentrating radionuclides such as Cs, Sr, Tc, and Ra.
Recipients include: In 2007, Izatt created an endowment at Brigham Young University to reward faculty excellence in research in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and to provide funds to invite an eminent scientist or engineer from the worldwide community to present two lectures to the combined Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Chemical Engineering, one more universal in nature for the general public and the second more technical in nature for faculty and students.