Bio

Christine Thomas received her B.S. in chemistry from Lafayette College (Easton, PA) in 2001, where she worked on the synthesis and electrochemistry of inorganic compounds with Professor Chip Nataro. She received her Ph.D. inorganic chemistry in 2006 at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) under the direction of Professor Jonas C. Peters. Her graduate research 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. 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), where 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 began her career as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Brandeis University (Waltham, MA). Christine was selected for DOE's Early Career Research Program in 2011, was named a 2011 Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, and received an NSF CAREER award in 2012. She was selected as a 2012 Organometallics Fellow, was named a 2013/2014 Chemical Communications Emerging Investigator, was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2014, and was selected for the 2015 Dalton Transactions Lectureship. Christine's dedication to teaching has also been recognized by the 2012 Michael L. Walzer '56 Award for Excellence in Teaching at Brandeis University. At Brandeis University, Christine was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in May 2013 and to full Professor in July 2016. Christine joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry as a Professor in January 2018. She was the recipient of the Harlan Hatcher Arts and Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award and the Susan M. Hartman Mentoring and Leadership Award in 2024. She has served on the Editorial Advisory Board of Chemical Communications and is currently on the Editorial Advisory Boards of Dalton Transactions, Inorganic Chemistry, Chemical Science, and Polyhedron. Christine was Chair of the 2018 Gordon Research Conference on Organometallic Chemistry and Chair of the Organometallic Chemistry subdivision of the ACS Division on Inorganic Chemistry in 2020. Within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Christine served as Vice Chair for Graduate Studies from 2019-2023 and in Fall 2025 and she is currently serving as interim Department Chair.

Research Overview

At the heart of sustainable, renewable, and "green" fuel production lies the activation of naturally abundant small molecules and their transformation to useful chemical feedstocks. Whether it be the splitting of H₂O into H₂ and O₂, the conversion of CO₂ into a useful C₁ feedstock, or the conversion of CH₄ and other saturated hydrocarbons into useful energy-rich value-added products, the future of the global energy economy is dependent upon the development of new technologies to maximize efficiency and drive the world towards a more sustainable future. The science behind such technological developments is reliant on the fundamental design of homogeneous and/or heterogeneous catalysts (or those that lie at the interface of the two) capable of activating the σ and π bonds in small molecule substrates such as CO₂, H₂, carbonyl compounds and hydrocarbons. In many cases these transformations are thermodynamically unfavorable, and typically involve multielectron redox processes. The so-called "noble" or "precious" metals of the late 2nd and 3rd row transition metal series (e.g. Pt, Pd, Rh, Ir) are the most well-studied for such multielectron redox processes, as they are known to commonly undergo Mⁿ/Mⁿ⁺² redox cycling. Unfortunately, these metals are also among the least abundant elements on the periodic table, and therefore cost prohibitive. The most economical catalysts, however, would involve far less expensive and more Earth-abundant metals such as those in the first row transition series (e.g. Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) or early transition metals such as Ti, Zr, Nb, or Mo. These metals, however, are often relatively redox inert and/or favor one-electron transformations, which are often difficult to control or predict. Research within the Thomas laboratory focuses on addressing these challenges by exploring cooperation between different components of bifunctional catalysts. Specifically, the Thomas group is interested in fundamental catalysts design principles involving (1) two metal centers in bimetallic frameworks and (2) metal centers and non-innocent ligands, and the unique effects that such cooperation can have on the reactivity of these species. All projects in the Thomas group entail the synthesis of new ligands and transition metal complexes. Although the primary focus of our research is synthesis, the research pursued the Thomas lab also entails a large variety of characterization techniques including single crystal X-ray diffraction, multinuclear NMR, IR, UV-Vis, Mössbauer and EPR spectroscopies, as well as magnetic and electrochemical measurements using SQUID magnetometer and cyclic voltammetry. In addition, theoretical investigations into the electronic structure and reactivity of particularly interesting transition metal complexes synthesized in the lab are studied using density functional theory (DFT) calculations using computational software including Gaussian and ORCA. Some specific research projects are discussed below: 

Heterobimetallic Complexes

As a method to address the fundamental challenge of designing catalysts for multielectron redox transformations, our group has been investigating well-defined bimetallic systems to learn more about the fundamental interactions between these two metals and how such interactions might be used to promote multielectron redox chemistry and determine the mechanism by which small molecules might interact with the two metal sites to facilitate the cleavage of s and p bonds. While we are primarily interested in investigating homogeneous catalyst design strategies, our ultimate goal is to provide insight into some of the interactions and mechanistic pathways that might also be at play in heterogeneous catalysis where multiple metal sites are certainly present and involved in catalysis. Ongoing research involves the synthesis of new homo- and heterobimetallic complexes featuring metal-metal interactions, spectroscopic and computational studies into the electronic structure and metal-metal bonding in these complexes, and the exploration of the reactivity of these new heterobimetallic platforms towards unusual bond activation processes and catalytic transformations.

Ligand Design: Uncovering the Potential of π-Acceptor Ligands in Base Metal Catalysis

Pincer ligands have become ubiquitous and versatile frameworks in organometallic catalysis with first row transition metals (e.g. Fe, Ni, Co, Mn). However, the most successful pincer ligand feature strong σ-donor ligands designed to enforce a low-spin electronic configuration and promote two-electron redox processes. A similar effect could be promoted by π-accepting ligands, but far fewer reports have focused on the deliberate incorporation of π-acceptor fragments into chelating ligands. In this project, N-heterocyclic phosphine ligands have been incorporated into a chelating diphosphine pincer ligand framework. The transition metal complexes of the resulting (PP^RP) pincer ligands will be synthesized and explored as catalysts and precatalysts for organic transformations including the hydrofunctionalization of unsaturated organic substrates and C-H activation/functionalization processes. For example, we have discovered that the (PP^CF3P)CoI₂ complex is bench stable and serves as a remarkably active precatalyst for the hydroboration of alkenes. Ultimately, we hope to develop more sustainable catalytic methodology using first row transition metals and to underscore the importance of π-acceptor ligand properties in catalyst design.

Metal-Ligand Cooperativity with Tetradentate Bis(amide) ligands

The Thomas group has recently started exploring a planar tetradentate bis(amide)bis(phosphine) ligand and its coordination chemistry with the first row metals (e.g. Fe, Co, Ni).  An unusual square planar, S = 1, Fe(II) complex has been synthesized and shown to react activate B-H bonds.  The presence of two iron-amide linkages allows for metal-ligand cooperativity across two different metal-amide bonds, accomplishing the activation of two B-H bonds without changing the metal’s oxidation state.  In extending this chemistry to square planar Ni(II) complexes, a facile method for the sequential cleavage of P-Ph bonds was uncovered, generating bis(amide)bis(phosphide) complexes that have even more potential for metal-ligand cooperative reactions.

Recent Publications

Singh, A.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “Side-On N₂ Binding and Reduction by a Heterotetrametallic Zr₂Co₂ Cluster.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 40087-40092.

Thomas, C. M.; Song, T.; Goldberger, J. E. “Flash Communication: Gram-Scale Synthesis of White Phosphorus, P₄“ Organometallics 2025, 44, 1515-1517.

Feresin, J.; Barden, B. A.; Reyes, J. A.; Abhyankar, P. C.; Barrett, S. M.; Thomas, C. M. “Heterobimetallic Multi-Site Concerted Proton Electron Transfer (MS-CPET) Promotes Coordination-Induced O-H Bond Weakening.” Chem. Sci. 2025, 16, 12941-12946.

Fitzsimmons, M. C.; Seith, M. C.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “Efficient and Selective Hydroboration of Alkenes Catalyzed by an Air-Stable (PP^CF3P)CoI₂ Precatalyst.” Chem. Sci. 2025, 16, 5717-5725.

Hunter, N. H.; Thomas, C. M. “Polarized Metal-Metal Multiple Bonding and Reactivity of Phosphinoamide-Bridged Heterobimetallic Group IV/Cobalt Compounds.” Dalton Trans. 2024, 53, 15764-15781.

Miller, J. D.; Walsh, M. M.; Lee, K.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “Hydrogen Atom Abstraction as a Synthetic Route to a Square Planar Co^II Complex with a Redox-Active Tetradentate PNNP Ligand.” Chem. Sci. 2024, 15, 15311-15320.

Abhyankar, P. C.; Morrison, S. M.; Shoopman, J. A.; Kumar, R. M.; Singh, A.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “M^IV/Co^-I (M = Zr, Hf) Bis(phosphinoamide) Complexes with η⁶– and η⁴-Arenes.” Organometallics 2024, 43, 1837-1851.

Stevens, J. E.; Miller, J. D.; Fitzsimmons, M. C.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “Z-Selective Dimerization of Terminal Alkynes by a (PNNP)Fe Complex.” Chem. Commun. 2024, 60, 5169-5172.

Fitzsimmons, M. C.; Yessengazin, A.; Hatzis, G. P.; Stevens, J. E.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “Catalytic Hydrogenation of Terminal Alkenes by a (PPP) Pincer-Ligated Cobalt(II) Complex.” Organometallics 2023, 42,1439–1443.

Hunter, N. H.; Stevens, J. E.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “One Bridge, Three Bonds: A Frontier in Multiple Bonding in Heterobimetallic Complexes.” Inorg. Chem. 2023, 62, 659-663.

Stevens, J. E.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “Si-H Bond Activation and Dehydrogenative Coupling of Silanes across the Iron-Amide Bond of a Bis(amido)bis(phosphine) Iron(II) Complex.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 794-799. 

Lee, K.; Thomas, C. M. “Nickel-Templated Replacement of Phosphine Substituents in a Tetradentate Bis(amido)bis(phosphine) Ligand.” Inorg. Chem. 2021, 60, 17348-17356.

Hunter, N. H.; Lane, E. M.; Gramigna, K. M.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “C-H Bond Activation Facilitated by Bis(phosphinoamide) Heterobimetallic Zr/Co Complexes.” Organometallics 2021, 40, 3689-3696.

Poitras, A. M.; Oliemuller, L. K.; Hatzis, G. P.; Thomas, C. M. “Highly Selective Hydroboration of Terminal Alkenes Catalyzed by a Cobalt Pincer Complex Featuring a Central Reactive N-Heterocyclic Phosphido Fragment.” Organometallics 2021, 40, 1025-1031.

Zhang, H.; Hatzis, G. P.; Dickie, D. A.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “Redox Chemistry and H-atom Abstraction Reactivty of a Terminal Zirconium(IV) Oxo Compound Mediated by an Appended Cobalt(I) Center.” Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 10729-10736.

Hatzis, G. P.; Thomas, C. M. “Metal-Ligand Cooperativity Across Two Sites of a Square Planar Iron(II) Complexes Ligated by a Tetradentate PNNP Ligand.” Chem. Commun. 2020, 46, 8611-8614.

Lee, K.; Moore, C. E.; Thomas, C. M. “Synthesis of Ni(II) Complexes Supported by Tetradentate Mixed-Donor Bis(amido)/Phosphine/Phosphido Ligands by Phosphine Substituent Elimination.” Organometallics 2020, 39, 2053-2056.

Zhang, H.; Hatzis, G. P.; Moore, C. E.; Dickie, D. A.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. "O₂ Activation by a Heterobimetallic Zr/Co Complex." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 9516-9520.

Gramigna, K. M.; Dickie, D. A.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. "Cooperative H₂ Activation Across a Metal-Metal Multiple Bond and Hydrogenation Reactions Catalyzed by a Zr/Co Heterobimetallic Complex." ACS Catalysis 2019, 9, 3153-3164.