Alkyl and Aryl Derivatives of the Alkali Metals:Useful Synthetic Reagents as Strong Bases and Potent Nucleophiles.1.Conversion of Organic Halides to Organoalkali-Metal Compounds

摘要

Edward Frankland had discovered dimethylzinc,the first main-group organometallic compound,in 1849.This discovery was followed soon thereafter by the preparation of alkyl compounds of other main-group metals by Frankland and other chemists in England,Germany,and France:derivatives of mercury,tin,lead,antimony,bismuth,and cadmium by 1856.Notably absent from this list were organic compounds of the alkali metals lithium,sodium,and potassium.Frankland had briefly investigated the sealed-tube reaction of ethyl iodide with potassium in 1847 in his first independent attempt to isolate the ethyl"radical".