Thomas Montgomery

Thomas Montgomery serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry within Duquesne University's School of Science and Engineering. His academic journey began with a B.A. in Chemistry and Biology from St. Mary's College of Maryland, followed by Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Organic Chemistry from the University of Chicago where he worked under Professor Viresh Rawal. After completing postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania with Professor Amos B. Smith III focusing on organo-lithium chemistry, he joined Duquesne University in summer 2018.

His research spans interdisciplinary domains including synthetic organic chemistry, natural product total synthesis, photophysical materials development, and computational analysis. The Montgomery lab integrates experimental laboratory work with computational methods using DFT on computing clusters, particularly focusing on N-oxide chemistry for nitrogen heterocycle synthesis and photophysical material design. Recent publication trends reveal a strong emphasis on [3+2] cycloadditions using tertiary amine N-oxides, aza-BODIPY synthesis, and computational elucidation of reaction mechanisms.

Montgomery has secured significant research funding including NIH grant 1R15GM148917-01 for N-oxide applications in heterocycle synthesis and NSF grant CHE-2244151 for integrating chemical theory with computation and experiments. His educational scholarship examines pandemic-era adaptations in science education, particularly through Universal Design for Learning frameworks.

• Application of N-Oxides for the Synthesis of Nitrogen Heterocycles (NIH 1R15GM148917-01)
• Integration of Chemical Theory, Computation and Experiments at Duquesne University (NSF CHE-2244151)

The Montgomery lab operates as an interdisciplinary research environment where students engage in both synthetic chemistry projects and computational modeling. Current work focuses on developing novel synthetic methodologies using persistent anions and hydrogen bonding scaffolds, with particular attention to photophysical materials and complex natural product synthesis pathways.