IntroductionFor half a century, organolithium (C-Li bonded) reagents and lithium amides (N-Li bonded) have played a pivotal role in the development of modern day synthetic chemistry. Reagents in these categories, in particular the butyllithiums (the normal-, secondary-, and tertiary-isomers), lithium diisopropylamide (LDA), lithium 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperid-1-ide (LiTMP), and lithium 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazide (LiHMDS) are utilized in most synthetic laboratories around the world and are especially important in the metallation reaction (that is, the conversion of a relatively inert C-H bond into a more reactive (more chemically pliable) C-Li bond) and in the kinetically operative metal-halogen exchange reactions. The past two decades have witnessed several new classes of constitutionally more complex reagents that contain multimetal and/or multianion formulations that have challenged the dominance of these unimetallic/unianionic reagents in deprotonative/metal-halogen exchange chemistry. This chapter covers some of the rich structural and synthetic chemistry of these new and still emerging systems, detailing only a small selection of what these classes of compounds can offer the chemist at the present time.
Structural Chemistry of Heterometallic Lithium ComplexesStructure is inextricably and mutually linked to reactivity; hence, much recent research activity has focused on the elucidation of solid-state and solution structures of lithium organometallics and amides. This section concentrates on the structural chemistry of lithium-containing mixed-metal complexes, focusing particularly on mixed s-block (Group 1/Group 1 or Group 1/Group 2) complexes, and those containing the Group 12 d 10 metal zinc, which is commonly regarded as a displaced alkaline earth metal. In recent years, heterometallic sodium reagents (particularly sodium zincates, magnesiates, aluminates, etc.) have received a great Lithium Compounds in Organic Synthesis: From Fundamentals to Applications, First Edition. Edited by Renzo Luisi and Vito Capriati.