Robert Thomson is an articling student in our Vancouver office. He is currently completing his Juris Doctor at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
Robert is a versatile academic and researcher with expertise in synthetic actinide chemistry, polymerization catalysis, and science communication. His background includes a productive term as an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma (2011-2018), a postdoctoral fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory (2008-2011), and lecturing at UBC on communicating science and chemistry to the public (2018-2021). He also served as an Assistant Editor for the UBC Law Review, where he contributed to interdisciplinary discourse.
His achievements range from receiving the Los Alamos National Lab Postdoctoral Publication Prize in Experimental Sciences to winning the R&D100 Award for Process Science. Robert was also recognized with the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award during his doctoral studies.
As a scientist, Robert enjoys developing new technologies through the application of fundamental scientific concepts to problems facing humanity. He is excited to join Smart & Biggar and brings a unique perspective to the firm’s legal practice. Robert looks forward to working in a wide range of areas of intellectual property law. He hopes to benefit from the training and mentorship programs the firm offers.
Qualifications
- News
- Speaking
- In the Media
- R.K. Thomson. “Marching Across the Periodic Table: A Journey from N2 Activation to Transition Metal Catalysis and Actinide Science” Special Seminar, TRIUMF, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2017.
- R.K. Thomson. “Phosphinimide Complexes of Uranium and the Group 6 Metals: Synthesis, Spectroscopy and Reactivity Studies” Chemistry Colloquium, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA, 2017.
- R.K. Thomson. “Phosphinimide Chemistry of the Group 6 Metals and Early f-Elements” Chemistry Colloquium, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, 2017.
- R.K. Thomson. “Phosphinimide Chemistry of Uranium and Group 6 Metals” Inorganic Discussion Group Seminar Series, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2016.
- R.K. Thomson. “New Approaches to the Synthesis of Group 6 Metal-Element Multiple Bonds” INOR #541, 251st ACS National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, San Diego, California, USA, 2016.
Publications
- B.C. Stobbe, D.R. Powell, R.K. Thomson, “Schiff base thorium(IV) and uranium(IV) chloro complexes: synthesis, substitution and oxidation chemistry”, Dalton Transactions 2017, 46, 4888-92. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2017/dt/c7dt00580f#!divAbstract
- C.J. Varjas, D.R. Powell, R.K. Thomson, “Rapid access to an oxido-alkylidene complex of Mo(VI)”, Organometallics 2015, 34, 4806-9. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.organomet.5b00686
- M.J. Monreal, R.K. Thomson, T. Cantat, N.E. Travia, B.L. Scott, and J.L. Kiplinger, “UI4(1-4-dioxane)2, [UCl4(1-4-dioxane)]2, and UI3(1-4-dioxane)1.5: Stable and Versatile Starting Materials for Low- and High- Valent Uranium Chemistry”, Organometallics 2011, 30, 2031-2038. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/om200093q
- R.K. Thomson, T. Cantat, B.L. Scott, D.E. Morris, E.R. Batista, and J.L. Kiplinger, “Uranium Azide Photolysis Results in C-H Bond Activation and Provides Evidence for a Terminal Uranium Nitride”, Nature Chemistry, 2010, 2, 723-729. https://www.nature.com/articles/nchem.705
- R.K. Thomson, C.R. Graves, B.L. Scott, and J.L. Kiplinger, “Noble Reactions for the Actinides: Safe Gold-Based Access to Organouranium and Azido Complexes”, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2009, 1451-1455. https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejic.200900034
- R.K. Thomson, J.A. Bexrud, and L.L. Schafer, “A Pentagonal Pyramidal Zirconium Imido Complex for Catalytic Hydroamination of Unactivated Alkenes”, Organometallics 2006, 25, 4069-4071. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/om060545n
- C. Li, R.K. Thomson, B. Gillon, B.O. Patrick, and L.L. Schafer, “Amidate Complexes of Titanium and Zirconium: A New Class of Tunable Precatalysts for the Hydroamination of Alkynes”, Chem. Commun. 2003, 2462-2463. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2003/cc/b304176j#!divAbstract