Sec-Butyllithium
Sec-Butyllithium
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Sec-Butyllithium

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sec-Butyllithium
Skeletal formula of sec-butyllithium
Skeletal formula of sec-butyllithium
Skeletal formula of tetrameric sec-butyllithium
Skeletal formula of tetrameric sec-butyllithium
Names
IUPAC name
sec-Butyllithium
Systematic IUPAC name
Butan-2-yllithium
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
3587206
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard 100.009.026 Edit this at Wikidata
EC Number
  • 209-927-7
UNII
  • InChI=1S/C4H9.Li/c1-3-4-2;/h3H,4H2,1-2H3; checkY
    Key: VATDYQWILMGLEW-UHFFFAOYSA-N checkY
  • InChI=1/C4H9.Li/c1-3-4-2;/h3H,4H2,1-2H3;/rC4H9Li/c1-3-4(2)5/h4H,3H2,1-2H3
    Key: VATDYQWILMGLEW-MHILWDCKAX
  • [Li]C(C)CC
  • CC([Li])CC
Properties
C4H9Li
Molar mass 64.06 g·mol−1
Acidity (pKa) 51
Hazards
Safety data sheet (SDS) Fisher MSDS
Related compounds
n-butyllithium
tert-butyllithium
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
checkY verify (what is checkY☒N ?)

sec-Butyllithium is an organometallic compound with the formula CH3CHLiCH2CH3, abbreviated sec-BuLi or s-BuLi. This chiral organolithium reagent is used as a source of sec-butyl carbanion in organic synthesis.[1]

Synthesis

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sec-BuLi can be prepared by the reaction of sec-butyl halides with lithium metal:[2]

Properties

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Physical properties

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sec-Butyllithium is a colorless viscous liquid.[1][3] Using mass spectrometry, it was determined that the pure compound has a tetrameric structure.[4] It also exists as tetramers when dissolved in organic solvents such as benzene, cyclohexane or cyclopentane.[3] The cyclopentane solution has been detected with 6Li-NMR spectroscopy to have a hexameric structure at temperatures below −41 °C.[5] In electron-donating solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, there exists an equilibrium between monomeric and dimeric forms.[6]

Chemical properties

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The carbon-lithium bond is highly polar, rendering the carbon basic, as in other organolithium reagents. Sec-butyllithium is more basic than the primary organolithium reagent, n-butyllithium. It is also more sterically hindered. sec-BuLi is employed for deprotonations of particularly weak carbon acids where the more conventional reagent n-BuLi is unsatisfactory. It is, however, so basic that its use requires greater care than for n-BuLi. For example diethyl ether is attacked by sec-BuLi at room temperature in minutes, whereas ether solutions of n-BuLi are stable.[1]

The compound decomposes slowly at room temperature and more rapidly at higher temperatures, giving lithium hydride and a mixture of butenes.[7][8]

Applications

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Many transformations involving sec-butyllithium are similar to those involving other organolithium reagents.

In combination with sparteine as a chiral auxiliary, sec-butyllithium is useful in enantioselective deprototonations.[9] It is also effective for lithiation of arenes.[10]

References

[edit]
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