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Organolithium Reagents

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Since its discovery by Schlenk and Holtz, lithiation chemistry has become a well-established technique in modern industrial synthesis. With the demand to synthesize highly complex natural products and obtain new chemical structures for probing uncharted territory in chemistry, organolithium reagents have become essential elements in the formation of known bond formations (e.g. nucleophilic addition and substitution) and the development of new technologies in organic synthesis. 

Organolithium compounds, being strong bases and nucleophiles, have gained outstanding importance as key intermediates and powerful reagents in organic synthesis. 

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Selection of applications:

  • Organolithium reagents frequently participate in cross-coupling reactions.
  • The butyllithium isomers n-butyllithium, chiral sec-butyllithium, and t-butyllithium are widely used in organic synthesis respectively as polymerization initiators, a source of sec-butyl carbanions, and as a strong base in Grignard reactions.
  • Highly stereochemically-enriched organolithium compounds are versatile and sought-after synthetic intermediates in stereoselective synthesis.

Since organolithium reagents display high sensitivity to both air and moisture, we provide top-quality packaging in Sure/Seal™ bottles to prolong the lifetime of these reagents. Smaller-sized bottles require fewer needle entries to consume the reagent volume. Therefore, many of our organometallic reagents are also being transitioned into exclusive 25 mL Sure/Seal™ packaging to reduce waste and decomposition of more unstable reagents.

Explore how our organolithium reagents can make a difference in your scientific discoveries.

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C–H functionalization is the reliable and predictable conversion of a C–H into a C–C, C–N, C–O, or C–X bond in a selective and controlled fashion.
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Cross-coupling is a common reaction in organic chemistry for the creation of C-C, C-N, and C-O bonds with the aid of a metal catalyst.
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Fluorination is the introduction of fluorine to a compound via electrophilic fluorination, nucleophilic fluorination, difluoromethylation, trifluoromethylation, or perfluoroalkylation.
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Olefin metathesis involves an organic reaction that redistributes fragments of alkenes (olefins) by cleavage and transformation of carbon-carbon double bonds.
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Photoredox catalysis uses visible light and photocatalysts for synthetic transformations like cross-coupling and functionalization reactions.
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