vinyllithium
Sign in to saveVinyllithium is an organolithium compound with the formula LiC2H3. A colorless or white solid, it is encountered mainly as a solution in tetrahydrofuran (THF). It is a reagent in synthesis of organic compounds, especially for vinylations.
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
4 sectionsContents
- Preparation and structure
- Reactions
- Alternative reagents
- References
Vinyllithium is an organolithium compound with the formula LiC2H3. A colorless or white solid, it is encountered mainly as a solution in tetrahydrofuran (THF). It is a reagent in synthesis of organic compounds, especially for vinylations.
==Preparation and structure== Solutions of vinyllithium are prepared by lithium-halogen exchange reactions. A halide-free route entails reaction of tetravinyltin with butyllithium: Sn(CH=CH2)4 + 4 BuLi → SnBu4 + 4 LiCH=CH2 The reaction of ethylene and lithium affords vinyl lithium and lithium hydride, together with other organolithium compounds,
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “vinyllithium” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.