Beryllium, alkyl-alkoxides

Te tram eric alkyl beryllium, zinc and cadmium alkoxides are formed by controlled alcoholysis of the metal dialkyls,16U62 while cubanoid thallium alkoxides are obtained by reaction of the metal with refluxing ethanol, and alcohol metathesis.163 Reaction (4) affords a tin phosphide cubane in low yield 164... 

In all of, these cases substitution of the second alkyl can then occur to yield the dialkoxide or diphenoxide. This allowed the isolation of the monomeric beryllium phenoxide Be(OAr )2 (OAr = 2,6-di-t-butylphenoxide).98 The alkyls of the Group IV metals, MR (M = Ti, Zr, Hf), undergo rapid reactions with common alcohols and phenols yielding eventually the corresponding tetra-alkoxides or -phenoxides and four equivalents of alkane.97,100 With very bulky substituted alcohols or phenols the reactivity can be very sluggish, in some cases leading to only partial substitution (equation 28). 66,100... 

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