Metallic hthium

Unlike other alkali metals, hthium reacts with nitrogen in the presence of moisture at ordinary temperatures, forming the black hthium nitride, LisN ... 

Heating metallic Hthium in a stream of gaseous ammonia gives lithium amide [7782-89-0] LiNH2, which may also be prepared from Hquid ammonia and lithium in the presence of platinum black Amides of the alkali metals can be prepared by double-decomposition reactions in Hquid ammonia. For example... 

Reactions with metallic hthium lead to formations of polyenes [171]. On the other hand, when poly(vinyl chloride) is reacted with metal hydrides, like lithium aluminum hydride in a mixture of tetrahydrofuran and decalin at 100°C, macroalkanes form [172] ... 

Unhke the other alkah metals, hthium forms a nitride, Li N, hne earths. 

Exposure to Hquid fluorine or alkali metals (Hthium, potassium, or sodium)... 

However, the reaction rate of Ii,cC depends on the hthium concentration at the surface of the carbon particles, which is limited by the rather slow transport kinetics of hthium from the bulk to the surface [17-19]. > As the melting point of metallic hthium is low ( 180°C) there is some risk of melting of hthium under abuse conditions such as short-circuiting, foUowed by a sudden breakdown of the SEI and a violent reaction of hquid hthium with the other cell components. In contrast, there is no melting of hthiated carbons. 

Olefins add anhydrous acetic acid to give esters, usually of secondary or tertiary alcohols propjiene [115-07-1] yields isopropyl acetate [108-21-4], isobutjiene [115-11-7] gives tert-huty acetate [540-88-5]. Minute amounts of water inhibit the reaction. Unsaturated esters can be prepared by a combined oxidative esterification over a platinum group metal catalyst. Eor example, ethylene-air-acetic acid passed over a palladium—Hthium acetate catalyst yields vinyl acetate. 

Germanium metal is also used in specially prepared Ge single crystals for y-ray detectors (54). Both the older hthium-drifted detectors and the newer intrinsic detectors, which do not have to be stored in hquid nitrogen, do an exceUent job of spectral analysis of y-radiation and are important analytical tools. Even more sensitive Ge detectors have been made using isotopicahy enriched Ge crystals. Most of these have been made from enriched Ge and have been used in neutrino studies (55—57). 

Anionic polymerization of vinyl monomers can be effected with a variety of organometaUic compounds alkyllithium compounds are the most useful class (1,33—35). A variety of simple alkyllithium compounds are available commercially. Most simple alkyllithium compounds are soluble in hydrocarbon solvents such as hexane and cyclohexane and they can be prepared by reaction of the corresponding alkyl chlorides with lithium metal. Methyllithium [917-54-4] and phenyllithium [591-51-5] are available in diethyl ether and cyclohexane—ether solutions, respectively, because they are not soluble in hydrocarbon solvents vinyllithium [917-57-7] and allyllithium [3052-45-7] are also insoluble in hydrocarbon solutions and can only be prepared in ether solutions (38,39). Hydrocarbon-soluble alkyllithium initiators are used directiy to initiate polymerization of styrene and diene monomers quantitatively one unique aspect of hthium-based initiators in hydrocarbon solution is that elastomeric polydienes with high 1,4-microstmcture are obtained (1,24,33—37). Certain alkyllithium compounds can be purified by recrystallization (ethyllithium), sublimation (ethyllithium, /-butyUithium [594-19-4] isopropyllithium [2417-93-8] or distillation (j -butyUithium) (40,41). Unfortunately, / -butyUithium is noncrystaUine and too high boiling to be purified by distiUation (38). Since methyllithium and phenyllithium are crystalline soUds which are insoluble in hydrocarbon solution, they can be precipitated into these solutions and then redissolved in appropriate polar solvents (42,43). OrganometaUic compounds of other alkaU metals are insoluble in hydrocarbon solution and possess negligible vapor pressures as expected for salt-like compounds. 

An emerging electrochemical appHcation of lithium compounds is in molten carbonate fuel ceUs (qv) for high efficiency, low poUuting electrical power generation. The electrolyte for these fuel ceUs is a potassium carbonate—hthium carbonate eutectic contained within a lithium aluminate matrix. The cathode is a Hthiated metal oxide such as lithium nickel oxide. 

Lithium carbonate addition to HaH-Heroult aluminum ceU electrolyte lowers the melting point of the eutectic electrolyte. The lower operating temperatures decrease the solubiHty of elemental metals in the melt, allowing higher current efficiencies and lower energy consumption (55). The presence of Hthium also decreases the vapor pressure of fluoride salts. 

Lithium Chloride. Lithium chloride [7447- 1-8], LiCl, is produced from the reaction of Hthium carbonate or hydroxide with hydrochloric acid. The salt melts at 608°C and bods at 1382°C. The 41-mol % LiCl—59-mol % KCl eutectic (melting point, 352°C) is employed as the electrolyte in the molten salt electrolysis production of Hthium metal. It is also used, often with other alkaH haHdes, in brazing flux eutectics and other molten salt appHcations such as electrolytes for high temperature Hthium batteries. 

A simple and economical route involving the reaction of Hthium metal and organic haHdes was developed in 1930 to prepare organ oHthium compounds such as / -butyUithium (76) ... 

Polymer—Cp—MCl complexes have been formed with the Cp-group covalendy bound to a polystyrene bead. The metal complex is uniformly distributed throughout the bead, as shown by electron microprobe x-ray fluorescence. Olefin hydrogenation catalysts were then prepared by reduction with butyl hthium (262). 

Iminoboianes have been suggested as intermediates in the formation of compounds derived from the pyrolysis of azidoboranes (77). The intermediate is presumed to be a boryl-substituted nitrene, RR BN, which then rearranges to the amino iminoborane, neither of which has been isolated (78). Another approach to the synthesis of amino iminoboranes involves the dehydrohalogenation of mono- and bis(amino)halobotanes as shown in equation 21. Bulky alkah-metal amides, MNR, have been utilized successfully as the strong base,, in such a reaction scheme. Use of hthium-/i /f-butyl(ttimethylsilyl)amide yields an amine, DH, which is relatively volatile (76,79). 

The proportion of hydrochloric acid in the mobile phase was not to exceed 20%, so that complex formation did not occur and zone structure was not adversely affected. An excess of accompanying alkaline earth metal ions did not interfere with the separation but alkali metal cations did. The hthium cation fluoresced blue and lay at the same height as the magnesium cation, ammonium ions interfered with the calcium zone. 

Highly fluonnated alkanes are also reduced by alkali metals Lithium amalgam converts polytetrafluoroethyleneto acarbon polymer composed of monolayer nbbons of six membered rings with hthium atoms bound to the edges [i]... 

A variation of this transfonnation reacts the acid with hthium naphthalenide in the presence of 1-chlorobutane. The product is the ketone. A related reaction treats the lithium carboxylate with lithium metal and the alkyl halide, with sonication, to give the ketone. ... 

The electrolyte used in lithium cells, i.e., for aU hthium couples, must be completely anhydrous (< 20 ppm H2O) alkali metals in general are compatible with neutral salt solutions in aprotic solvents or neutral molten salts or solid ion-conductors. 

Aprotic polar solvents such as those listed in Table 8.1 are widely used in electrochemistry. In solutions with such solvents the alkali metals are stable and will not dissolve under hydrogen evolution (by discharge of the proton donors) as they do in water or other protic solvents. These solvents hnd use in new types of electrochemical power sources (batteries), with hthium electrodes having high energy density. 

For convenience and simplicity, the electrochemical study of electrode materials is normally made in hthium/(electrode material) cells. For carbonaceous materials, a lithium/carbon cell is made to study electrochemical properties, such as capacity, voltage, cycling life, etc.. Lithium/carbon coin cells use metallic lithium foil as the anode and a particular carbonaceous material as the... 

Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell The electrolyte in the MCFC is a mixture of lithium/potassium or lithium/sodium carbonates, retained in a ceramic matrix of lithium aluminate. The carbonate salts melt at about 773 K (932°F), allowing the cell to be operated in the 873 to 973 K (1112 to 1292°F) range. Platinum is no longer needed as an electrocatalyst because the reactions are fast at these temperatures. The anode in MCFCs is porous nickel metal with a few percent of chromium or aluminum to improve the mechanical properties. The cathode material is hthium-doped nickel oxide. 

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