From: Paul Handley (p.handley$##$chemistry.uq.edu.au)
Date: Sun Mar 26 2000 - 18:16:06 EST
>We regularly prepare both n-BuLi and sec-BuLi in the lab. The most
>important factors needed for good quality alkyl lithium are :
>(a) The Li metal must be very finely dispersed. This done by heating Li
>shots in liquid paraffin in a 3-neck flask fitted with an outlet at the
>bottom and then vigorously stirring with a mechanical stirrer.
A neat trick for small scale organolithiums is to place a chunk of
lithium metal between two clear plastic OHP slides and bash it flat with a
hammer. Get someone to help you by slicing the lithium foil with a scalpel
while you drop it with tweezers into your reaction vessel. Obviously the
quicker you do it, the better.
Paul Handley
Dept. of Chemistry
University of Queensland
Brisbane, Australia
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