Hydrozirconation solvent

The substituted-cyclopentadiene derivatives analogs of [Cp2Zr(H)Cl]n (1), (MeCp)2Zr(H)Cl (2) [38], Cp CpZr(H)Cl (3) [39], and [(Me2Si)(C5H5)2Zr(H)Clj [40] are more soluble in non-polar organic solvents, and consequently they are more reactive. Thus, the direct competition between 1 and 2 for the hydrozirconation reaction of 1-hexene affords predominantly (86%) the product derived from the methylated derivative (Scheme 8-3) [41]. 

Schwartz hydrozirconation works on both alkenes and alkynes even at room temperature. It works significantly better in ether solvents than hydrocarbon solvents. In addition, the reaction intermediate can be transmetallated into other organometallics that can be used in palladium-catalyzed reactions or trapped with electrophiles. Review Schwartz, J. Labinger, J. A. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1976,15, 333-340. 

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