Lithium arenes

Dialkoxymethyllithium compounds, for example 2-lithio-l,3-dioxan (311), are generated in situ as shown in equation 69, either by reductive lithiation of a phenyl thioether with a lithium arene or by transmetallation of the corresponding trialkylstannyl compound. Subsequent quenching with electrophiles leads to the usual alkylated or functionalized species ... 

Various effective synthetic routes can be based on metallation of organic substrates with lithium arenes, obtained in situ from metallic lithium and an arene present in substoichio-metric amounts. Immediate quenching of the lithiated intermediates may be considered as a reduction reaction of the original substrate. Otherwise, further functionalization may be attained when using diverse electrophiles. Various examples of such processes follow (see also equation 69 in section VI.B.l). 

The same polymeric arenes that served as metallation catalysts in equation 119 can also be used for silylation in Barbier-type reactions (equation 131). The polymer is presumably converted to a lithium arene adduct that activates metallic lithium for metallation of the halogenated substrates, before addition of an electrophile to achieve the synthetic goal. Equations 132-135 illustrate some of the cases investigated. The products can be characterized by the usual spectroscopic methods . 

Herrera, R. P. Guijarro, A. Yus, M. Primary alkyl fluorides as regioselective alkylating reagents of lithium arene dianions. Easy prediction of regioselectivity by MO calculations on the dianion. Tetrahedron Lett. 2003, 44, 1313-1316. 

S. by Action of Lithium Arene Radical Anions and Dianlons. 

Lithium arene radical anions and dianions, [ArH2] Li and [ArH] 2 Li", can react with acidic hydrocarbons , alkyl halides or alkyl sulfides to form organolithiums via electron transfers. 

Table 1. Formation of Organolithiums via Reaction of Organic Halides with Lithium Arene Radical Anions in THF...

Use of Lithium Naphthalenide. Lithium arene radical anion complexes are mild and highly effective reagents for the reductive desulfonylation process of functionalized sulfones. These reagents have only rarely been used with vinylic and allylic sulfones. In addition to high yields and their operational simplicity, metal arene radical anion complexes demonstrate high chemoselectivity (Eq. 67).123... 

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