Tetrahydrofuran (THF), or oxolane, is an organic compound with the formula (CH2)4O. The compound is classified as heterocyclic compound, specifically a cyclic ether. It is a colorless, water-miscible organic liquid with low viscosity. It is mainly used as a precursor to polymers. Being polar and having a wide liquid range, THF is a versatile solvent.
Furfural is an organic compound with the formula C4H3OCHO. It is a colorless liquid, although commercial samples are often brown. It has an aldehyde group attached to the 2-position of furan. It is a product of the dehydration of sugars, as occurs in a variety of agricultural byproducts, including corncobs, oat, wheat bran, and sawdust. The name furfural comes from the Latin word furfur, meaning bran, referring to its usual source. Furfural is only derived from lignocellulosic biomass, i.e., its origin is non-food or non-coal/oil based. In addition to ethanol, acetic acid, and sugar, furfural is one of the oldest organic chemicals available readily purified from natural precursors.
In organometallic chemistry, organolithium reagents are chemical compounds that contain carbon–lithium (C–Li) bonds. These reagents are important in organic synthesis, and are frequently used to transfer the organic group or the lithium atom to the substrates in synthetic steps, through nucleophilic addition or simple deprotonation. Organolithium reagents are used in industry as an initiator for anionic polymerization, which leads to the production of various elastomers. They have also been applied in asymmetric synthesis in the pharmaceutical industry. Due to the large difference in electronegativity between the carbon atom and the lithium atom, the C−Li bond is highly ionic. Owing to the polar nature of the C−Li bond, organolithium reagents are good nucleophiles and strong bases. For laboratory organic synthesis, many organolithium reagents are commercially available in solution form. These reagents are highly reactive, and are sometimes pyrophoric.
Xylose is a sugar first isolated from wood, and named for it. Xylose is classified as a monosaccharide of the aldopentose type, which means that it contains five carbon atoms and includes an aldehyde functional group. It is derived from hemicellulose, one of the main constituents of biomass. Like most sugars, it can adopt several structures depending on conditions. With its free aldehyde group, it is a reducing sugar.
Dimethoxyethane, also known as glyme, monoglyme, dimethyl glycol, ethylene glycol dimethyl ether, dimethyl cellosolve, and DME, is a colorless, aprotic, and liquid ether that is used as a solvent, especially in batteries. Dimethoxyethane is miscible with water.
Furfuryl alcohol is an organic compound containing a furan substituted with a hydroxymethyl group. It is a colorless liquid, but aged samples appear amber. It possesses a faint odor of burning and a bitter taste. It is miscible with but unstable in water. It is soluble in common organic solvents.
The Schlenk equilibrium, named after its discoverer Wilhelm Schlenk, is a chemical equilibrium taking place in solutions of Grignard reagents and Hauser bases
A Grignard reagent or Grignard compound is a chemical compound with the general formula R−Mg−X, where X is a halogen and R is an organic group, normally an alkyl or aryl. Two typical examples are methylmagnesium chloride Cl−Mg−CH3 and phenylmagnesium bromide (C6H5)−Mg−Br. They are a subclass of the organomagnesium compounds.
Methyllithium is the simplest organolithium reagent with the empirical formula CH3Li. This s-block organometallic compound adopts an oligomeric structure both in solution and in the solid state. This highly reactive compound, invariably used in solution with an ether as the solvent, is a reagent in organic synthesis as well as organometallic chemistry. Operations involving methyllithium require anhydrous conditions, because the compound is highly reactive toward water. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are also incompatible with MeLi. Methyllithium is usually not prepared, but purchased as a solution in various ethers.
A Rieke metal is a highly reactive metal powder generated by reduction of a metal salt with an alkali metal. These materials are named after Reuben D. Rieke, who first described the recipes for their preparation. Among the many metals that have been generated by this method are Mg, Ca, Ti, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, and In, which in turn are called Rieke-magnesium, Rieke-calcium, etc.
Phenylmagnesium bromide, with the simplified formula C
6H
5MgBr, is a magnesium-containing organometallic compound. It is commercially available as a solution in diethyl ether or tetrahydrofuran (THF). Phenylmagnesium bromide is a Grignard reagent. It is often used as a synthetic equivalent for the phenyl "Ph−" synthon.
Group 2 organometallic chemistry refers to the chemistry of compounds containing carbon bonded to any group 2 element. By far the most common group 2 organometallic compounds are the magnesium-containing Grignard reagents which are widely used in organic chemistry. Other organmetallic group 2 compounds are rare and are typically limited to academic interests.
γ-Valerolactone (GVL) or gamma-valerolactone is an organic compound with the formula C5H8O2. This colourless liquid is one of the more common lactones. GVL is chiral but is usually used as the racemate. It is readily obtained from cellulosic biomass and is a potential fuel and green solvent.
Organoindium chemistry is the chemistry of compounds containing In-C bonds. The main application of organoindium chemistry is in the preparation of semiconducting components for microelectronic applications. The area is also of some interest in organic synthesis. Most organoindium compounds feature the In(III) oxidation state, akin to its lighter congeners Ga(III) and B(III).
Borane dimethylsulfide (BMS) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula BH3·S(CH3)2. It is an adduct between borane molecule and dimethyl sulfide molecule. It is a complexed borane reagent that is used for hydroborations and reductions. The advantages of BMS over other borane reagents, such as borane-tetrahydrofuran, are its increased stability and higher solubility. BMS is commercially available at much higher concentrations than its tetrahydrofuran counterpart and does not require sodium borohydride as a stabilizer, which could result in undesired side reactions. In contrast, BH3·THF requires sodium borohydride to inhibit reduction of THF to tributyl borate. BMS is soluble in most aprotic solvents.
Methoxymethylfurfural is an organic compound derived from dehydration of sugars and subsequent etherification with methanol. This colorless liquid is soluble in a wide range of solvents including lower alcohols. The molecule is a derivative of furan, containing both aldehyde and ether (methoxymethyl) functional groups. MMF has been detected in the leaves and roots of Chilean Jaborosa magellanica (Solanaceae). It has a typical odor suggestive of maraschino cherries. MMF can be made from a wide range of carbohydrate containing feedstocks including sugar, starch and cellulose using a chemical catalytic process and is a potential "carbon-neutral" feedstock for fuels and chemicals.
Organocerium chemistry is the science exploring the properties, structure, and reactivity of organocerium compounds, chemical compounds that contain one or more chemical bond between carbon and cerium. These compounds comprise a subset of the organolanthanides. In general, organocerium compounds are not isolable, and are rather studied in solution via their reactions with other species. There are notable exceptions, such as the Cp*3Ce(III) complex shown at right, but they are relatively rare. Complexes involving cerium of various oxidation states are known: though lanthanides are most stable in the +3 state, complexes of cerium(IV) have been reported. These latter compounds have found less widespread use due to their oxidizing nature, and the majority of literature regarding organometallic cerium complexes involves the +3 oxidation state. In particular, organocerium compounds have been developed extensively as non-basic carbon nucleophiles in organic synthesis. Because cerium is relatively non-toxic, they serve as an "environmentally friendly" alternative to other organometallic reagents. Several reviews detailing these applications have been published.
Cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME), also known as methoxycyclopentane, is hydrophobic ether solvent. A high boiling point of 106 °C (223 °F) and preferable characteristics such as low formation of peroxides, relative stability under acidic and basic conditions, formation of azeotropes with water coupled with a narrow explosion range render CPME an attractive alternative to other ethereal solvents such as tetrahydrofuran (THF), 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF), dioxane, and 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME).
Magnesocene, also known as bis(cyclopentadienyl)magnesium(II) and sometimes abbreviated as MgCp2, is an organometallic compound with the formula Mg(η5-C5H5)2. It is an example of an s-block main group sandwich compound, structurally related to the d-block element metallocenes, and consists of a central magnesium atom sandwiched between two cyclopentadienyl rings.
Tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA) is an organic compound with the formula HOCH2C4H7O. In terms of its structure, it consists of a tetrahydrofuran ring substituted in the 2-position with a hydroxymethyl group. It is a colorless liquid that is used as a specialty solvent and synthetic intermediate, e.g. to 3,4-dihydropyran. It is prepared by hydrogenation of furfural. It is a precursor to 1,5-pentanediol.
