Lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide

Lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide is a lithiated organosilicon compound. Its chemical formula is LiN(SiMe3)2. It is commonly abbreviated as LiHMDS which means lithium hexamethyldisilazide. It is mainly used as a strong non-nucleophilic base and as a ligand.

Preparation

It can be made by the deprotonation of bis(trimethylsilyl)amine with n-butyllithium.[1] Once its made, the compound can be purified by sublimation or distillation.

Uses

It is often used in organic chemistry as a strong non-nucleophilic base.[2] It can be used to make many organolithium compounds, including acetylides or lithium enolates.[2][3]

Lithium Bis(trimethylsilyl)amide Media

References

  1. Amonoo-Neizer, E. H.; Shaw, R. A.; Skovlin, D. O.; Smith, B. C.; Rosenthal, Joel W.; Jolly, William L. (2007-01-05). Holtzlaw, Henry F. (ed.). Inorganic Syntheses. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 19–22. doi:10.1002/9780470132395.ch6. ISBN 978-0-470-13239-5.[dead link]
  2. 2.0 2.1 Wu, George; Huang, Mingsheng (2006). "Organolithium Reagents in Pharmaceutical Asymmetric Processes". Chemical Reviews. 106 (7): 2596–2616. doi:10.1021/cr040694k. ISSN 0009-2665. PMID 16836294.
  3. Wu, George; Huang, Mingsheng (2006). "Organolithium Reagents in Pharmaceutical Asymmetric Processes". Chemical Reviews. 106 (7): 2596–2616. doi:10.1021/cr040694k. ISSN 0009-2665. PMID 16836294.