Lithium diisopropylamide-mediated lithiation of 1,4-difluorobenzene under nonequilibrium conditions: role of monomer-, dimer-, and tetramer-based intermediates and lessons about rate limitation

Case for Lithium Tetramethylpiperidide-Mediated Ortholithiations: Reactivity and Mechanisms

Rate and mechanistic studies of ortholithiations by lithium 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidide focus on four arenes: 1,4-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene, 1,3-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene, 1,3-dimethoxybenzene, and 4,4-dimethyl-2-phenyl-2-oxazoline. Metalations occur via substrate-dependent combinations of monosolvated monomer, disolvated monomer, and tetrasolvated dimer (triple ions). Density functional theory computational studies augment the experimental data. We discuss the challenges presented by shifting dimer-monomer proportions in determining the observable reaction orders and our mathematical treatment of such shifting in reactant structure.

Lithium Diisopropylamide: Nonequilibrium Kinetics and Lessons Learned about Rate Limitation

The kinetics of lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) in tetrahydrofuran under nonequilibrium conditions are reviewed. These conditions correspond to a class of substrates in which the rates of LDA aggregation and solvation events are comparable to the rates at which various fleeting intermediates react with substrate. Substrates displaying these reactivities, by coincidence, happen to be those that react at tractable rates on laboratory time scales at -78 °C. In this strange region of nonlimiting behavior, rate-limiting steps are often poorly defined, sometimes involve deaggregation, and at other times include reaction with substrate. Changes in conditions routinely cause shifts in the rate-limiting steps, and autocatalysis is prevalent and can be acute. The studies are described in three distinct portions: (1) methods and strategies used to deconvolute complex reaction pathways, (2) the resulting conclusions about organolithium reaction mechanisms, and (3) perspectives on the concept of rate limitation reinforced by studies of LDA in tetrahydrofuran at -78 °C under nonequilibrium conditions.

A mechanistic study of the Lewis acid–Brønsted base–Brønsted acid catalysed asymmetric Michael addition of diethyl malonate to cyclohexenone

Reaction shown to exhibit biomimetic behaviour.

Introducing a Hydrogen-Bond Donor into a Weakly Nucleophilic Brønsted Base: Alkali Metal Hexamethyldisilazides (MHMDS, M=Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs) with Ammonia

Alkali metal 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazide (MHMDSs) are one of the most utilised weakly nucleophilic Brønsted bases in synthetic chemistry and especially in natural product synthesis. Like lithium organics, they aggregate depending on the employed donor solvents. Thus, they show different reactivity and selectivity as a function of their aggregation and solvation state. To date, monomeric LiHMDS with monodentate donor bases was only characterised in solution. Since the first preparation of LiHMDS in 1959 by Wannagat and Niederprüm, all efforts to crystallise monomeric LiHMDS in the absence of chelating ligands failed. Herein, we present ammonia adducts of LiHMDS, NaHMDS, KHMDS, RbHMDS and CsHMDS with unprecedented aggregation motifs: 1) The hitherto missing monomeric key compound in the LiHMDS aggregation architectures. Monomeric crystal structures of trisolvated LiHMDS (1) and NaHMDS (2), showing unique intermolecular hydrogen bonds, 2) the unprecedented tetrasolvated KHMDS (3) and RbHMDS (4) dimers and 3) the disolvated CsHMDS (5) dimer with very close intermolecular Si-CH3 ⋅⋅⋅Cs s-block "agostic" interactions have been prepared and characterised by single-crystal X-ray structure analysis.

How Microsolvation Numbers at Li Control Aggregation Modes, sp(2)-Stereoinversion, and NMR Coupling Constants (2)JH,H of H2C═C in α-(2,6-Dimethylphenyl)vinyllithium

The title compound 4 is a trisolvated monomer 4&3THF in THF solution and dimerizes endothermically to form (4&THF)2 with a strongly positive (!) dimerization entropy in toluene as the solvent. In the absence of electron-pair donor ligands, 4 aggregates (>dimer) in hydrocarbon solutions. These results followed from the (13)C-α splitting patterns and the magnitudes of the one-bond (13)C,(6)Li NMR coupling constants in combination with lithiation NMR shifts as secondary NMR criteria. The rate constants of cis/trans sp(2)-stereoinversion could be measured on the (1)H NMR time scale in THF, in which solvent the preinversion lifetime is 0.24 s at 25 °C. This inversion proceeds according to the pseudomonomolecular, ionic mechanism with the typical, strongly negative pseudoactivation entropy. In a different mechanism, the lifetimes are much longer at 25 °C for the dimer (4&t-BuOMe)2 in toluene (ca. 2.5 min) and for donor-free, aggregated 4 in hexane solution (roughly 1 min). The olefinic interproton two-bond coupling constants (2)JH,H of the H2C═CLi part are proposed as an indicator of microsolvation at Li, because they were found to increase linearly with the "explicit" solvation of α-arylvinyllithiums by 0, 1, 2, and 3 electron-pair donor ligands.

Mechanism of Lithium Diisopropylamide-Mediated Ortholithiation of 1,4-Bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene under Nonequilibrium Conditions: Condition-Dependent Rate Limitation and Lithium Chloride-Catalyzed Inhibition

Lithiation of 1,4-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene with lithium diisopropylamide in tetrahydrofuran at -78 °C occurs under conditions at which the rates of aggregate exchanges are comparable to the rates of metalation. Under such nonequilibrium conditions, a substantial number of barriers compete to be rate limiting, making the reaction sensitive to trace impurities (LiCl), reactant concentrations, and isotopic substitution. Rate studies using the perdeuterated arene reveal odd effects of LiCl, including catalyzed rate acceleration at lower temperature and catalyzed rate inhibition at higher temperatures. The catalytic effects are accompanied by corresponding changes in the rate law. A kinetic model is presented that captures the critical features of the LiCl catalysis, focusing on the influence of LiCl-catalyzed re-aggregation of the fleeting monomer that can reside above, at, or below the equilibrium population without catalyst.