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.
Lithium diisopropylamide is a chemical compound with the molecular formula LiN(CH 2)2. It is used as a strong base and has been widely utilized due to its good solubility in non-polar organic solvents and non-nucleophilic nature. It is a colorless solid, but is usually generated and observed only in solution. It was first prepared by Hamell and Levine in 1950 along with several other hindered lithium diorganylamides to effect the deprotonation of esters at the α position without attack of the carbonyl group.
As the name suggests, a non-nucleophilic base is a sterically hindered organic base that is a poor nucleophile. Normal bases are also nucleophiles, but often chemists seek the proton-removing ability of a base without any other functions. Typical non-nucleophilic bases are bulky, such that protons can attach to the basic center but alkylation and complexation is inhibited.
Lithium tetramethylpiperidide is a chemical compound with the molecular formula LiC9H18N. It is used as a non-nucleophilic base, being comparable to LiHMDS in terms of steric hindrance.
n-Butyllithium C4H9Li (abbreviated n-BuLi) is an organolithium reagent. It is widely used as a polymerization initiator in the production of elastomers such as polybutadiene or styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS). Also, it is broadly employed as a strong base (superbase) in the synthesis of organic compounds as in the pharmaceutical industry.
In organic chemistry, Madelung synthesis is a chemical reaction that produces indoles by the intramolecular cyclization of N-phenylamides using strong base at high temperature. The Madelung synthesis was reported in 1912 by Walter Madelung, when he observed that 2-phenylindole was synthesized using N-benzoyl-o-toluidine and two equivalents of sodium ethoxide in a heated, airless reaction. Common reaction conditions include use of sodium or potassium alkoxide as base in hexane or tetrahydrofuran solvents, at temperatures ranging between 200–400 °C. A hydrolysis step is also required in the synthesis. The Madelung synthesis is important because it is one of few known reactions that produce indoles from a base-catalyzed thermal cyclization of N-acyl-o-toluidines.
Sodium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide is the organosilicon compound with the formula NaN(Si 3)2. This species, usually called NaHMDS, is a strong base used for deprotonation reactions or base-catalyzed reactions. Its advantages are that it is commercially available as a solid and it is soluble not only in ethers, such as THF or diethyl ether, but also in aromatic solvents, like benzene and toluene by virtue of the lipophilic TMS groups.
Trimethylsilyl chloride, also known as chlorotrimethylsilane is an organosilicon compound, with the formula (CH3)3SiCl, often abbreviated Me3SiCl or TMSCl. It is a colourless volatile liquid that is stable in the absence of water. It is widely used in organic chemistry.
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.
Lithium amide or lithium azanide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula LiNH2. It is a white solid with a tetragonal crystal structure. Lithium amide can be made by treating lithium metal with liquid ammonia:
Organocopper chemistry is the study of the physical properties, reactions, and synthesis of organocopper compounds, which are organometallic compounds containing a carbon to copper chemical bond. They are reagents in organic chemistry.
Bis(trimethylsilyl)amine (also known as hexamethyldisilazane and HMDS) is an organosilicon compound with the molecular formula [(CH3)3Si]2NH. The molecule is a derivative of ammonia with trimethylsilyl groups in place of two hydrogen atoms. An electron diffraction study shows that silicon-nitrogen bond length (173.5 pm) and Si-N-Si bond angle (125.5°) to be similar to disilazane (in which methyl groups are replaced by hydrogen atoms) suggesting that steric factors are not a factor in regulating angles in this case. This colorless liquid is a reagent and a precursor to bases that are popular in organic synthesis and organometallic chemistry. Additionally, HMDS is also increasingly used as molecular precursor in chemical vapor deposition techniques to deposit silicon carbonitride thin films or coatings.
Potassium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide (commonly abbreviated as KHMDS, Potassium(K) HexaMethylDiSilazide) or potassium hexamethyldisilazane is the chemical compound with the formula ((CH3)3Si)2NK. It is a strong, non-nucleophilic base with an approximate pKa of 26 (compare to lithium diisopropylamide, at 36).
PMDTA (N,N,N′,N′′,N′′-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine) is an organic compound with the formula [(CH3)2NCH2CH2]2NCH3. PMDTA is a basic, bulky, and flexible, tridentate ligand that is a used in organolithium chemistry. It is a colorless liquid, although impure samples appear yellowish.
Organosodium chemistry is the chemistry of organometallic compounds containing a carbon to sodium chemical bond. The application of organosodium compounds in chemistry is limited in part due to competition from organolithium compounds, which are commercially available and exhibit more convenient reactivity.
Metal bis(trimethylsilyl)amides are coordination complexes composed of a cationic metal M with anionic bis(trimethylsilyl)amide ligands (the −N 2 monovalent anion, or −N 2 monovalent group, and are part of a broader category of metal amides.
Metal amides (systematic name metal azanides) are a class of coordination compounds composed of a metal center with amide ligands of the form NR2−. Amido complexes of the parent amido ligand NH2− are rare compared to complexes with diorganylamido ligand, such as dimethylamido. Amide ligands have two electron pairs available for bonding.
Tris(trimethylsilyl)amine is the simplest tris(trialkylsilyl)amine which are having the general formula (R3Si)3N, in which all three hydrogen atoms of the ammonia are replaced by trimethylsilyl groups (-Si(CH3)3). Tris(trimethylsilyl)amine has been for years in the center of scientific interest as a stable intermediate in chemical nitrogen fixation (i. e. the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen N2 into organic substrates under normal conditions).
(Trimethylsilyl)methyllithium is classified both as an organolithium compound and an organosilicon compound. It has the empirical formula LiCH2Si(CH3)3, often abbreviated LiCH2tms. It crystallizes as the hexagonal prismatic hexamer [LiCH2tms]6, akin to some polymorphs of methyllithium. Many adducts have been characterized including the diethyl ether complexed cubane [Li4(μ3-CH2tms)4(Et2O)2] and [Li2(μ-CH2tms)2(tmeda)2].
