Christine Thomas was born in 1980 in Cinnaminson, NJ, a suburb of Philadelphia. She graduated from Cinnaminson High School in 1998 and went on to recieve her bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Lafayette College (Easton, PA) in 2001. As an undergraduate, she worked with Professor Chip Nataro on the synthesis and electrochemistry of inorganic complexes, including phosphine-crown ethers and mixed valent ruthenium dimers. In the fall of 2001, Christine began her doctoral studies in inorganic chemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA). Christine's research with Professor Jonas C. Peters focused on a wide range of synthetic projects related to inorganic and organometallic chemistry, including the examination of C-H activation by platinum complexes, the design of new ligands, the examination of the reactivity of coordinatively unsaturated tris(phosphino)borate iron complexes towards small molecule activation, and the synthesis of the first well-defined and structurally characterized Fe(IV) imido complex. After recieving her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry in 2006, Christine went on to pursue postdoctoral work under the direction of Professors Marcetta Y. Darensbourg and Michael B. Hall at Texas A&M University (College Station, TX). Her postdoctoral research concentrated on the experimental and theoretical investigation of small molecule models of the dinuclear active site of [FeFe]-Hydrogenase, an enzyme that catalyzes the reversible production of hydrogen from protons. In 2008, Christine accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Brandeis Univeristy (Waltham, MA). Professor Thomas's research program focuses on synthetic inorganic and organometallic chemistry with the underlying goals of exploring fundamental design principles used by Mother Nature in catalyst design for renewable energy and sustainable technological applications. In 2010, Prof. Thomas was selected for the U.S. Department of Energy's Early Career Research Program and in 2011, Prof. Thomas was named a 2011 Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. Christine is also the recipient of a 2012 National Science Foundation CAREER award and was selected as a 2012 Organometallics Fellow and a 2013/2014 Chem. Commun. Emerging Investigator. Christine's dedication to teaching was recognized with The 2012 Michael L. Walzer '56 Award for Excellence in Teaching at Brandeis. In 2012, she joined the Editorial Advisory board for Chemical Communications. Prof. Thomas was promoted to Asssociate Professor with tenure in May 2013. As of May 2014, she is an Associate Editor for Dalton Transactions.

Synthesis of new ligands and transition metal complexes with the ultimate goal of uncovering new approaches to the catalytic activation and functionalization of small molecules and organic substrates.

My research plans entail the synthesis of new ligands and transition metal complexes with the ultimate goal of uncovering new approaches to the catalytic activation and functionalization of small molecules and organic substrates. These types of processes are critical for the development of sustainable energy technology and for the catalysis of organic transformations. Although I am interested in a number of different projects, the underlying theme for my research program is to examine the ways in which different components of a transition metal complex work together and how this cooperation affects the reactivity of the complex as a whole. Specifically, I am interested in examining the cooperation between two metal centers in bimetallic frameworks metal centers and non-innocent ligands Although the primary focus of my research is synthesis, the research pursued my group also entails a large variety of characterization techniques including multinuclear NMR, IR, UV-Vis and EPR spectroscopies, as well as magnetic and electrochemical measurements. In addition, theoretical investigations into the electronic structure and reactivity of particularly interesting transition metal complexes synthesized in my research group are studied using density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

A Heterobimetallic Complex Featuring a Ti-Co Multiple Bond and Its Application to the Reductive Coupling of Ketones to Alkenes , Wu, B.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Chem. Sci. 2015, 10.1039/C4SC03772C. Probing Substituent Effects in Phosphinoamine Ligands Using Mo(CO)5L Complexes , Lee, K. H.; Napoline, J. W.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Polyhedron 2015, 87, 354-360. Formation of Heterobimetallic Zirconium/Cobalt Diimido Complexes via a Four-Electron Transformation , Wu, B.; Hernandez Sanchez, R.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Inorg. Chem. 2014, 53, 10021-10023. Synthesis and Investigation of the Metal-Metal Interactions in Heterobimetallic Cr/Rh and Cr/Ir Complexes , Kuppuswamy, S.; Cass, T. R.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Inorg. Chim. Acta 2015, 424, 167-172 (invited submission to Metal-Metal Compounds and Metal Clusters special issue. Assignment of the Oxidation States of Zr and Co in a Highly Reactive Heterobimetallic Zr/Co Complex Using X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XANES) , Krogman, J. P.; Gallagher, J. R.; Zhang, G.; Hock, A. S.; Miller, J. T.; Thomas, C. M. Dalton Trans. 2014, 43, 13852-13857. Coordination of N-heterocyclic Phosphine- and Phosphenium-Containing Pincer Ligands to Copper(I): Evidence for Reactive Electrophilic Metal-Phosphenium Intermediates , Knight, S. E.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Inorg. Chim. Acta 2014, 422, 181-187 (invited submisson for special issue in honor of T. Don Tilley). One-electron Oxidation Chemistry and Subsequent Reactivity of Diiron Imido Complexes , Kuppuswamy, S.; Powers, T. M.; Johnson, B. M.; Brozek, C. K.; Krogman, J. P.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Berben, L. A.; Keith, J. M.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Inorg. Chem. 2014, 53, 5429-5437. Interaction and Activation of Carbon-Heteroatom pi Bonds With a Zr/Co Heterobimetallic Complex , Marquard, S. L.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Organometallics 2014, 33, 2071-2079. A Series of C3-Symmetric Heterobimetallic Cr/M (M = Fe, Co, and Cu) Complexes , Kuppuswamy, S.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Powers, T. M.; Wilding, M. J. T.; Brozek, C. K.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Chem. Sci. 2014, 5, 1617-1626. Metal-Metal Multiple Bonding in C3-Symmetric Bimetallic Complexes of the First Row Transition Metals , Krogman, J. P.; Thomas, C. M. Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 5115-5127 (invited Feature Article). Effect of Ligand Modification on the Reactivity of Phosphinoamide-bridged Heterobimetallic Zr/Co Complexes , Zhou, W.; Saper, N. I.; Krogman, J. P.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Dalton Trans. 2014, 43, 1984-1989. Non-Innocent Behavior of Bidentate Amidophosphido [NP]2- Ligands Upon Coordination to Copper , Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 12329-12331. Tris(phosphinoamide)-supported Uranium-Cobalt Heterobimetallic Complexes Featuring Co-->U Dative Interactions , Napoline, J. W.; Kraft, S. J.; Matson, E. M.; Fanwick, P. E.; Bart, S. C.; Thomas, C. M. Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 12170-12177. Multimetallic Complexes Featuring a Bridging N-Heterocyclic Phosphido/Phosphenium Ligand: Synthesis, Structure, and Theoretical Investigation , Pan, B.; Evers-McGregor, D. A.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 9583-9589. Vanadium-Iron Complexes Featuring Metal-Metal Multiple Bonds , Kuppuswamy, S.; Powers, T. M.; Krogman, J. P.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Chem. Sci. 2013, 4, 3557-3565. Stoichiometric C=O Bond Oxidative Addition of Benzophenone by a Discrete Radical Intermediate To Form a Cobalt(I) Carbene , Marquard, S. L.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 6018-6021. Activation of E-H and E-E (E = S, O) Bonds by Heterobimetallic Zr/Co Complexes: Evidence for both One- and Two-Electron Processes , Napoline, J. W.; Krogman, J. P.; Shi, R.; Kuppuswamy, S.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2013, 2013, 3874-3882 (invited submission for "Small Molecule Activation by Reactive Metal Complexes" cluster issue). Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity of an Anionic Zr-Oxo Relevant to CO2 Reduction by a Zr/Co Heterobimetallic Complex , Krogman, J. P.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 3022-3031. Catalytic Hydrosilylation of Ketones Using a Co/Zr Heterobimetallic Complex: Evidence for an Unusual Mechanism Involving Ketyl Radicals , Zhou, W.; Marquard, S. L.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Organometallics 2013, 32, 1766-1772.

Iridium Dihydroxybipyridine Complexes Show That Ligand Deprotonation Dramatically Speeds Rates of Catalytic Water Oxidation , Depasquale, J.; Nieto, I.; Reuther, L. E.; Herbst-Gervasoni, C. J.; Paul, J. J.; Mochalin, V.; Zeller, M.; Thomas, C. M.; Addison, A. W.; Papish, E. T. Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 9175-9183.