Magnesium anthracene, THF complex

Allylmagnesium halides are best prepared from 3-chloropropene and equimolar amounts of magnesium-anthracene THF complex (Table 1, method A)13 -15. Here, usually, the yields arc higher solvent and temperature have only minor influence13 14. A catalytic version is also possible13. 

Propenylmagnesium Chloride, Catalyzed by a Magnesium-Anthracene-THF Complex (Method A) Typical Procedure1,1 ... 

Highly reactive calcium can be readily prepared by the reduction of calcium halides in tetrahydrofuran solution with preformed lithium biphenylide under an argon atmosphere at room temperature.5 This colored calcium species seems to be reasonably soluble in THF. However, the reactive calcium complex prepared from preformed lithium naphthalenide was insoluble in THF solution and precipitated out of solution to give a highly reactive black solid. The exact nature of this black calcium complex has not been determined. Acid hydrolysis of the black material releases naphthalene as well as THF. Accordingly, the most likely structure of the black material is a Ca-naphthalene-THF complex similar in nature to the soluble magnesium-anthracene complex recently reported.6... 

During the investigation of magnesium anthracene, a remarkable complex of a radical anion was isolated. In [(THF)3Mg(/i-Cl)3 Mg(THF)j]+-[anthracenyl] (57) (55), an adduct of MgCH with magne-... 

Anthracene and some of its derivatives react with metallic magnesium in THF to form a complex of type I, as shown in Figure 16. Spectroscopic and chemical properties of the complex have been investigated in detail [37]. 

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