Organolithium reagents Organomercury compounds

Metathesis reactions continue to be extensively employed in the synthesis of organomercury compounds. While most reactions involve the use of organolithium or Grignard reagents, other organometallic compounds are sometimes used as starting materials. 

An alternative method for preparing metallocenyllithium derivatives, convertible into organosilicon compounds, is based on cleavage of organomercury compounds with organolithium reagents. It was used for the silylation of ferrocene (113, 151) ... 

Grignard reagents are also synthesized by addition reactions of alkynes, addition reactions of unsaturated compounds having C=S groups, reactions of cycloalkanes, reactions with organolithium compounds or organomercury compounds, etc. [4,15,27,28],... 

As shown in eqs. (5.3)-(5.7), organozinc compounds are easily prepared by the reactions of zinc compounds or zinc metal with organometallic compounds such as Grignard reagents, organoaluminum compounds, organomercury compounds and organolithium compounds [12,13,18]. 

In this section, we will discuss organometallics in which the metal is cadmium, mercury, or zinc. Grignard reagents and organolithium compounds can be converted to heavy-metal derivatives by reaction with salts of these metals. The reaction is driven forward by the tendency for formation of the ionic salt of the more electropositive metal. This reaction is well documented for organocadmium compounds and organomercurials ... 

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