The first asymmetric organolithium tetramers with simple ether donor bases

Chem Commun (Camb). 2010 Jul 7;46(25):4562-4. doi: 10.1039/c002504f. Epub 2010 May 26.

Abstract

The donor-free trimethylsilylmethyllithium [LiCH(2)SiMe(3)](6) hexameric aggregate is for the first time broken up by simple ether donors such as diethyl ether (Et(2)O) and tert-butylmethyl ether ((t)BuOMe) to give the unprecedented asymmetric tetramers while the chelating dimethoxyethane (DME) gives the expected dimer.