Alkyllithiums, reactivity

The action of alkyllithiums and alkylmagnesium halides with functional groups on pyrimidines has been mentioned in appropriate sections on the reactivity of the substrates. 

The interpretation of the basis for this stereoselectivity can be made in terms of the steric, torsional, and stereoelectronic effects discussed in connection with reduction by hydrides. It has been found that crown ethers enhance stereoselectivity in the reaction of both Grignard reagents and alkyllithium compounds.119 This effect was attributed to decreased electrophilicity of the metal cations in the presence of the crown ether. The attenuated reactivity leads to greater selectivity. 

The reaction of alkyllithium with surface OH groups produces reactive lithiated surface. For example, neopentyllithium reacts with the surface silanol groups of silica (Scheme 7.12).240... 

Since alkyllithium compounds and their carbanions have an isoelectronic structure with alkoxides, their reaction behavior with carbenes is expected to be similar to that of alkoxides, showing enhanced reactivity in both C-H insertion and hydride abstraction.35 In this reaction, the hydride abstraction cannot be followed by recombination and, therefore, can be differentiated from the insertion. Indeed, the reaction of alkyllithium compounds 70 or nitrile anions (see Section IV.B) with ethyl(phenylthio)carbenoid, which is generated by the reaction of 1-chloropropyl sulfide 69 with BuLi, takes place at the -position of 70 more or less in a similar manner giving both insertion product 71 and hydride abstraction products 72 and 73, respectively. This again supports a general rule C-H bonds at the vicinal position of a negatively charged atom are activated toward carbene insertion reactions (Scheme 22). 

When bidentate solvents are present, the clusters may crystallize forming linear polymers by linking clusters together, as in complexes 292-295. This further diminishes solubility and reactivity of the alkyllithium compound, making the unassociated RLi species the most probable reactive form in synthetic processes. MeLi dissolved in diethoxymethane shows at room temperature a single Li NMR peak, that resolves into four distinct peaks at —80°C, pointing to temperature-dependent monomer/oligomer/polymer equilibria . 

Various commercially available compounds containing C—Li bonds are listed in Table 1. The alkyllithium and aryllithium species listed there are usually very reactive. These compounds serve to prepare in situ other intermediate reagents. These proceedings may afford various advantages in organic synthesis, such as better control of the reaction path, increased stereochemical selectivity and the possibility of working at higher temperatures. 

Quenching polystyryllithium and polybutadienyllithiums with A-benzylidenemethyl-amine (PhCH=NMe) in benzene solution leads to amine-functionalized polymers (equation 103), that can be characterized by SEC, TLC, acid-base titration and H and C NMR spectroscopies. The end groups are monomeric. Gradual addition of Et20 reduces the yields. This is attributed to increased reactivity of the alkyllithium residues in the polymer, bringing about a concurrent metallation reaction of the imine reagent (e.g. equation 101) . 

How well an organolithium reagent fares as an exchange component depends on its basicity. Thus, tert-butyllithium outperforms iec-butyllithium, which in turn is superior to butyllithium. MethyUithium is the least reactive alkyllithium but still surpasses phenyl-lithium, at least at low concentrations, i.e. the order is ... 

To make neopentyllithium or any other alkyllithium from the corresponding iodoalkane, ferf-butyllithium is the best, if not the only choice (Tables 8 and 9). Besides its reactivity. 

Since different reactivity is observed for both the stoichiometric and the catalytic version of the arene-promoted lithiation, different species should be involved in the electron-transfer process from the metal to the organic substrate. It has been well-established that in the case of the stoichiometric version an arene-radical anion [lithium naph-thalenide (LiCioHg) or lithium di-ferf-butylbiphenylide (LiDTBB) for using naphthalene or 4,4 -di-ferf-butylbiphenyl (DTBB) as arenes, respectively] is responsible for the reduction of the substrate, for instance for the transformation of an alkyl halide into an alkyllithium . For the catalytic process, using naphthalene as the arene, an arene-dianion 2 has been proposed which is formed by overreduction of the corresponding radical-anion 1 (Scheme 1). Actually, the dianionic species 2 has been prepared by a completely different approach, namely by double deprotonation of 1,4-dihydronaphthalene, and its X-ray structure determined as its complex with two molecules of N,N,N N tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA). ... 

The extensive use of alkyllithium initiators is due to their solubility in hydrocarbon solvents. Alkyls or aryls of the heavier alkali metals are poorly soluble in hydrocarbons, a consequence of their more ionic nature. The heavier alkali metal compounds, as well as alkyllithiums, are soluble in more polar solvents such as ethers. The use of most of the alkali metal compounds, especially, the more ionic ones, in ether solvents is somewhat limited by their reactivity toward ethers. The problem is overcome by working below ambient temperatures and/or using less reactive (i.e., resonance-stabilized) anions as in benzylpotassium, cumylcesium and diphenylmethyllithium. 

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