Titanium tetrachloride is a versatile reagent that forms diverse derivatives including those illustrated below.
Alcoholysis and related reactions A characteristic reaction of is its easy
hydrolysis, signaled by the release of
HCl vapors and
titanium oxides and
oxychlorides. Titanium tetrachloride has been used to create naval
smokescreens, as the hydrochloric acid aerosol and titanium dioxide that is formed scatter light very efficiently. This smoke is corrosive, however. : Organic
amines react with to give complexes containing amido (-containing) and imido (-containing) complexes. With ammonia,
titanium nitride is formed. An illustrative reaction is the synthesis of
tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium , a yellow, benzene-soluble liquid: This molecule is tetrahedral, with planar nitrogen centers. :
Complexes with simple ligands is a
Lewis acid as implicated by its tendency to
hydrolyze. With the
ether THF, reacts to give yellow crystals of . With chloride salts, reacts to form sequentially , (see figure above), and . The reaction of chloride ions with depends on the counterion. and gives the pentacoordinate complex , whereas smaller gives . These reactions highlight the influence of electrostatics on the structures of compounds with highly ionic bonding.
Redox Reduction of with
aluminium results in one-electron reduction. The trichloride (Titanium(III) chloride|) and tetrachloride have contrasting properties: the trichloride is a colored solid, being a
coordination polymer, and is
paramagnetic. When the reduction is conducted in
THF solution, the Ti(III) product converts to the light-blue adduct .
Organometallic chemistry The
organometallic chemistry of titanium typically starts from . An important reaction involves sodium
cyclopentadienyl to give
titanocene dichloride, . This compound and many of its derivatives are precursors to
Ziegler–Natta catalysts.
Tebbe's reagent, useful in organic chemistry, is an aluminium-containing derivative of titanocene that arises from the reaction of titanocene dichloride with
trimethylaluminium. It is used for the "olefination" reactions.
Reagent in organic synthesis finds occasional use in
organic synthesis, capitalizing on its
Lewis acidity, its
oxophilicity, and the electron-transfer properties of its reduced titanium halides. It is used in the
Lewis acid catalysed aldol addition Key to this application is the tendency of to activate
aldehydes (RCHO) by formation of
adducts such as . ==Toxicity and safety considerations==