Organolithium reagent

Studies of organolithium reagents began in the 1930s and were pioneered by Karl Ziegler, Georg Wittig, and Henry Gilman. In comparison with Grignard (magnesium) reagents, organolithium reagents can often perform the same reactions with increased rates and higher yields, such as in the case of metalation. Since then, organolithium reagents have overtaken Grignard reagents in common usage. == Structure ==

Although simple alkyllithium species are often represented as monomer RLi, they exist as aggregates (oligomers) or polymers. Nature of carbon–lithium bond Due to the large difference in electronegativity between the carbon atom and the lithium atom, the C−Li bond is highly ionic. Owing to the polar nature of the C−Li bond, organolithium reagents are good nucleophiles and strong bases. For laboratory organic synthesis, many organolithium reagents are commercially available in solution form. These reagents are highly reactive, and are sometimes pyrophoric. The relative electronegativities of carbon and lithium suggest that the C−Li bond will be highly polar. However, certain organolithium compounds possess properties such as solubility in nonpolar solvents that complicate the issue. In allyl lithium compounds, the lithium cation coordinates to the face of the carbon π bond in an η3 fashion instead of a localized, carbanionic center, thus, allyllithiums are often less aggregated than alkyllithiums. In aryllithium complexes, the lithium cation coordinates to a single carbanion center through a Li−C σ type bond. Solid state structure interactions, the coordination between lithium and surrounding solvent molecules or polar additives, and steric effects. Lithium amides adopt polymeric-ladder type structures in non-coordinating solvent in the solid state, and they generally exist as dimers in ethereal solvents. In the presence of strongly donating ligands, tri- or tetrameric lithium centers are formed. For example, LDA exists primarily as dimers in THF. Another important class of reagents is silyllithiums, extensively used in the synthesis of organometallic complexes and polysilane dendrimers. In the solid state, in contrast with alkyllithium reagents, most silyllithiums tend to form monomeric structures coordinated with solvent molecules such as THF, and only a few silyllithiums have been characterized as higher aggregates. NMR spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful tool for the studies of organolithium aggregates in solution. For alkyllithium species, C−Li J coupling can often used to determine the number of lithium interacting with a carbanion center, and whether these interactions are static or dynamic. Organolithium compounds bind Lewis bases such as tetrahydrofuran (THF), diethyl ether (Et2O), tetramethylethylene diamine (TMEDA) or hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA). TMEDA can also chelate to the lithium cations in n-butyllithium and form solvated dimers such as [(TMEDA) LiBu-n)]2. One question surrounding the structure-reactivity relationship is whether there exists a correlation between the degree of aggregation and the reactivity of organolithium reagents. It was originally proposed that lower aggregates such as monomers are more reactive in alkyllithiums. However, reaction pathways in which dimer or other oligomers are the reactive species have also been discovered, and for lithium amides such as LDA, dimer-based reactions are common. A series of solution kinetics studies of LDA-mediated reactions suggest that lower aggregates of enolates do not necessarily lead to higher reactivity. However, whether these additives function as strong chelating ligands, and how the observed increase in reactivity relates to structural changes in aggregates caused by these additives are not always clear. However, TMEDA does not always function as a donor ligand to lithium cation, especially in the presence of anionic oxygen and nitrogen centers. For example, it only weakly interacts with LDA and LiHMDS even in hydrocarbon solvents with no competing donor ligands. In imine lithiation, while THF acts as a strong donating ligand to LiHMDS, the weakly coordinating TMEDA readily dissociates from LiHMDS, leading to the formation of LiHMDS dimers that is the more reactive species. Thus, in the case of LiHMDS, TMEDA does not increase reactivity by reducing aggregation state. Also, as opposed to simple alkyllithium compounds, TMEDA does not deaggregate lithio-acetophenolate in THF solution. The addition of HMPA to lithium amides such as LiHMDS and LDA often results in a mixture of dimer/monomer aggregates in THF. However, the ratio of dimer/monomer species does not change with increased concentration of HMPA, thus, the observed increase in reactivity is not the result of deaggregation. The mechanism of how these additives increase reactivity is still being researched. == Reactivity and applications==

The C−Li bond in organolithium reagents is highly polarized. As a result, the carbon attracts most of the electron density in the bond and resembles a carbanion. Thus, organolithium reagents are strongly basic and nucleophilic. Some of the most common applications of organolithium reagents in synthesis include their use as nucleophiles, strong bases for deprotonation, initiator for polymerization, and starting material for the preparation of other organometallic compounds. As nucleophile Carbolithiation reactions As nucleophiles, organolithium reagents undergo carbolithiation reactions, whereby the carbon–lithium bond adds across a carbon–carbon double or triple bond, forming new organolithium species. This reaction is the most widely employed reaction of organolithium compounds. Carbolithiation is key in anionic polymerization processes, and n-butyllithium is used as a catalyst to initiate the polymerization of styrene, butadiene, or isoprene or mixtures thereof. : Another application that takes advantage of this reactivity is the formation of carbocyclic and heterocyclic compounds by intramolecular carbolithiation. : Addition to carbonyl compounds Nucleophilic organolithium reagents can add to electrophilic carbonyl double bonds to form carbon–carbon bonds. They can react with aldehydes and ketones to produce alcohols. The addition proceeds mainly via polar addition, in which the nucleophilic organolithium species attacks from the equatorial direction, and produces the axial alcohol. Addition of lithium salts such as LiClO4 can improve the stereoselectivity of the reaction. : When the ketone is sterically hindered, using Grignard reagents often leads to reduction of the carbonyl group instead of addition. Below is an example of ethyllithium addition to adamantone to produce tertiary alcohol. : Organolithium reagents are also better than Grignard reagents in their ability to react with carboxylic acids to form ketones. A more common way to synthesize ketones is through the addition of organolithium reagents to Weinreb amides (N-methoxy-N-methyl amides). This reaction provides ketones when the organolithium reagents is used in excess, due to chelation of the lithium ion between the N-methoxy oxygen and the carbonyl oxygen, which forms a tetrahedral intermediate that collapses upon acidic work up. : Organolithium reagents also react with carbon dioxide to form, after workup, carboxylic acids. In the case of enone substrates, where two sites of nucleophilic addition are possible (1,2 addition to the carbonyl carbon or 1,4 conjugate addition to the β carbon), most highly reactive organolithium species favor the 1,2 addition, however, there are several ways to propel organolithium reagents to undergo conjugate addition. First, since the 1,4 adduct is the likely to be the more thermodynamically favorable species, conjugate addition can be achieved through equilibration (isomerization of the two product), especially when the lithium nucleophile is weak and 1,2 addition is reversible. Secondly, adding donor ligands to the reaction forms heteroatom-stabilized lithium species which favors 1,4 conjugate addition. In one example, addition of low-level of HMPA to the solvent favors the 1,4 addition. In the absence of donor ligand, lithium cation is closely coordinated to the oxygen atom, however, when the lithium cation is solvated by HMPA, the coordination between carbonyl oxygen and lithium ion is weakened. This method generally cannot be used to affect the regioselectivity of alkyl- and aryllithium reagents. : Organolithium reagents can also perform enantioselective nucleophilic addition to carbonyl and its derivatives, often in the presence of chiral ligands. This reactivity is widely applied in the industrial syntheses of pharmaceutical compounds. An example is the Merck and Dupont synthesis of Efavirenz, a potent HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Lithium acetylide is added to a prochiral ketone to yield a chiral alcohol product. The structure of the active reaction intermediate was determined by NMR spectroscopy studies in the solution state and X-ray crystallography of the solid state to be a cubic 2:2 tetramer. : SN2 type reactions Organolithium reagents can serve as nucleophiles and carry out SN2 type reactions with alkyl or allylic halides. Although they are considered more reactive than Grignard reagents in alkylation, their use is still limited due to competing side reactions such as radical reactions or metal–halogen exchange. Most organolithium reagents used in alkylations are more stabilized, less basic, and less aggregated, such as heteroatom stabilized, aryl- or allyllithium reagents. : Directed ortho metalation is an important tool in the synthesis of regiospecific substituted aromatic compounds. This approach to lithiation and subsequent quenching of the intermediate lithium species with electrophile is often better than the electrophilic aromatic substitution due to its high regioselectivity. This reaction proceeds through deprotonation by organolithium reagents at the positions α to the direct metalation group (DMG) on the aromatic ring. The DMG is often a functional group containing a heteroatom that is Lewis basic, and can coordinate to the Lewis-acidic lithium cation. This generates a complex-induced proximity effect, which directs deprotonation at the α position to form an aryllithium species that can further react with electrophiles. Some of the most effective DMGs are amides, carbamates, sulfones and sulfonamides. They are strong electron-withdrawing groups that increase the acidity of alpha-protons on the aromatic ring. In the presence of two DMGs, metalation often occurs ortho to the stronger directing group, though mixed products are also observed. A number of heterocycles that contain acidic protons can also undergo ortho-metalation. However, for electron-poor heterocycles, lithium amide bases such as LDA are generally used, since alkyllithium has been observed to perform addition to the electron-poor heterocycles rather than deprotonation. In certain transition metal-arene complexes, such as ferrocene, the transition metal attracts electron density from the arene, thus rendering the aromatic protons more acidic, and ready for ortho-metalation. Superbases Addition of potassium alkoxide to alkyllithium greatly increases the basicity of organolithium species. The most common "superbase" can be formed by addition of KOtBu to butyllithium, referred to as Schlosser's base or LiCKOR (LiC denoting the alkylithium, KOR deonting the potassium alkoxide) superbases . These "superbases" are highly reactive and often stereoselective reagents. In the example below, the LiCKOR base generates a stereospecific crotylboronate species through metalation and subsequent lithium-metalloid exchange. : ==Organolithium reagents in asymmetric synthesis==

Chiral organolithium reagents can be accessed through asymmetric metalation. In this assumption, a monomeric LDA reacts with the carbonyl substrate and form a cyclic Zimmerman–Traxler type transition state. The (E)-enolate is favored due to an unfavorable syn-pentane interaction in the (Z)-enolate transition state. Lithium–halogen exchange Lithium–halogen exchange involves heteroatom exchange between an organohalide and organolithium species. Lithium–halogen exchange is very useful in preparing new organolithium reagents. The application of lithium–halogen exchange is illustrated by the Parham cyclization. : Transmetalation Organolithium reagents are often used to prepare other organometallic compounds by transmetalation. Organocopper, organotin, organosilicon, organoboron, organophosphorus, organocerium and organosulfur compounds are frequently prepared by reacting organolithium reagents with appropriate electrophiles. {{NumBlk|:|\ce{R-M} + \textit{n-}\ce{BuLi -> {R-Li} +}\ \textit{n-}\ce{BuM}|}} Common types of transmetalation include Li/Sn, Li/Hg, and Li/Te exchange, which are fast at low temperature. In the following example, vinylstannane, obtained by hydrostannylation of a terminal alkyne, forms vinyllithium through transmetalation with n-BuLi. : Organolithium can also be used in to prepare organozinc compounds through transmetalation with zinc salts. : Lithium diorganocuprates can be formed by reacting alkyl lithium species with copper(I) halide. The resulting organocuprates are generally less reactive toward aldehydes and ketones than organolithium reagents or Grignard reagents. : == Preparation ==

Most simple alkyllithium reagents, and common lithium amides are commercially available in a variety of solvents and concentrations. Organolithium reagents can also be prepared in the laboratory. Below are some common methods for preparing organolithium reagents. Displacement of a leaving group In lithium–halogen exchange, reduction of alkyl halide with metallic lithium can afford simple alkyl and aryl organolithium reagents. The reduction proceeds via a radical pathway. Below is an example of the preparation of a functionalized lithium reagent using reduction with lithium metal. Sometimes, lithium metal in the form of fine powders are used in the reaction with certain catalysts such as naphthalene or 4,4’-di-t-butylbiphenyl (DTBB). Another substrate that can be reduced with lithium metal to generate alkyllithium reagents is sulfides. Reduction of sulfides is useful in the formation of functionalized organolithium reagents such as alpha-lithio ethers, sulfides, and silanes. : Metalation A second method of preparing organolithium reagents is a metalation (lithium hydrogen exchange). The relative acidity of hydrogen atoms controls the position of lithiation. This is the most common method for preparing alkynyllithium reagents, because the terminal hydrogen bound to the sp carbon is very acidic and easily deprotonated. Some of the most effective directing substituent groups are alkoxy, amido, sulfoxide, sulfonyl. Metalation often occurs at the position ortho to these substituents. In heteroaromatic compounds, metalation usually occurs at the position ortho to the heteroatom. : Transmetalation The fourth method to prepare organolithium reagents is through transmetalation. This method can be used for preparing vinyllithium. Shapiro reaction In the Shapiro reaction, two equivalents of strong alkyllithium base react with p-tosylhydrazone compounds to produce the vinyllithium, or upon quenching, the olefin product. ==Handling==

Organolithium compounds are highly reactive species and require specialized handling techniques. They are often corrosive, flammable, and sometimes pyrophoric (spontaneous ignition when exposed to air or moisture). Alkyllithium reagents can also undergo thermal decomposition to form the corresponding alkyl species and lithium hydride. Organolithium reagents are typically stored below 10 °C. Reactions are conducted using air-free techniques. Organolithium reagents react, often slowly, with ethers, which nonetheless are often used as solvents. == See also ==