Reactions with alkyl halides The alkoxide ion and its salts react with primary alkyl halides in an
SN2 reaction to form an ether via the
Williamson ether synthesis.
Hydrolysis and transesterification Aliphatic metal alkoxides
decompose in water as summarized in this idealized equation: : In the
transesterification process, metal alkoxides react with
esters to bring about an exchange of alkyl groups between metal alkoxide and ester. With the metal alkoxide complex in focus, the result is the same as for alcoholysis, namely the replacement of alkoxide ligands, but at the same time the alkyl groups of the ester are changed, which can also be the primary goal of the reaction. Sodium methoxide in solution, for example, is commonly used for this purpose, a reaction that is used in the production of
biodiesel.
Formation of oxo-alkoxides Many metal alkoxide compounds also feature oxo-
ligands. Oxo-ligands typically arise via the hydrolysis, often accidentally, and via ether elimination: :
Thermal stability Many metal alkoxides
thermally decompose in the range ≈100–300 °C. Depending on process conditions, this thermolysis can produce
nanosized powders of oxide or metallic phases. This approach is a basis of processes of fabrication of functional materials intended for aircraft, space, electronic fields, and chemical industry: individual oxides, their solid solutions, complex oxides, powders of metals and alloys active towards sintering. Decomposition of mixtures of mono- and heterometallic alkoxide derivatives has also been examined. This method represents a prospective approach possessing an advantage of capability of obtaining functional materials with increased phase and chemical homogeneity and controllable grain size (including the preparation of nanosized materials) at relatively low temperature (less than 500–900 °C) as compared with the conventional techniques. ==Illustrative alkoxides==