The isolation and crystal structure of [Ph(2-Pyr)NLi]·(HMPA)·[Ph(2-Pyr)NH]; a model monomeric orgenonitrogen–lithium species containing co-ordination of lithium by both an anchimeric pyridyl N-atom and by a potentially reactive amine ligand

Abstract

The compound [Ph(2-Pyr)NLi]·(HMPA)·[Ph(2-Pyr)NH], (1), isolated from reactions of 2-anilinopyridine with BuⁿLi–HMPA, has been shown by X-ray crystallography to be monomeric, with lithium's co-ordination sphere including the pyridyl N atoms of both the amide and protonated amine ligands, making (1) a model compound for the study of the mechanisms both of directed (ortho, α) lithiations of C–H bonds in :X-atom substituted aromatic and heterocyclic compounds (:XO,S,N) and of lithiations of :X–H bonds themselves.