Although the number of crystal structure reports of organic lithium derivatives has mushroomed over the past decade or so, a report of the most important lithium reagent, indeed, one of the most utilized reagents throughout organic synthesis, lithium diisopropylamide (LDA), has been conspicuously absent

The crystalline lithium primary amide derived from tertbutylamine, [ [ ButN(H)Li), 1, is structurally characterised by an X-ray diffraction study and shown to be a novel octameric (n = 8) ladder conformation, the cyclic, 'double-crown' nature of which implies molecules of this design could direct the synthesis of heterobimetallic (i.e. lithium and another metal) imide cage constructions.

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Herein we report the structure of the crystalline alkyllithium complex [((BU~L~)~.TMEDA(B],u] nLi,n -butyllithium; TMEDA, N,N,NW'-tetramethylethylenediamine)w hich, to the best of our knowledge, is the first crystal structure of a simple butyl derivative of a group 1 (Li, Na, etc.) or a group 2 (Be, Mg, etc.) metal (Le. of formula "BunMn or *Bun2Mn)

Relevant to mixtures studied in solution and utilised in styrene polymerisation but hitherto not characterised in the solid, two crystal structures of alkali metal alkoxide-magnesium bis(alkyl) co-complexes have been determined, revealing that in binding to the C2O tripodal face of a common organomagnesiate anion, Na+ prefers O-coordination, whereas K+ prefers C-coordination.