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Sigma-Aldrich

n-Butyllithium solution

2.0 M in cyclohexane

Synonym(s):

n-BuLi, Butyl lithium, Butyllithium solution, Lithium-1-butanide

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About This Item

Linear Formula:
CH3(CH2)3Li
CAS Number:
Molecular Weight:
64.06
Beilstein:
1209227
MDL number:
UNSPSC Code:
12352103
PubChem Substance ID:
NACRES:
NA.22

form

liquid

Quality Level

concentration

2.0 M in cyclohexane

bp

80 °C

density

0.775 g/mL at 25 °C

storage temp.

2-8°C

SMILES string

[Li]CCCC

InChI

1S/C4H9.Li/c1-3-4-2;/h1,3-4H2,2H3;

InChI key

MZRVEZGGRBJDDB-UHFFFAOYSA-N

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General description

n-Butyllithium (n-BuLi) is an organolithium reagent widely used as a strong base (superbase) in organic synthesis for the preparation of various chemical intermediates. It is also used as a reagent for lithium-halogen exchange and lithium-metal transmetalation reactions. n-BuLi is capable of lithiating carbon acids.

Application

n-Butyllithium (2.0 M in cyclohexane) can be used as:      
  • A polymerization initiator to synthesize polystyrenes by anionic polymerization of styrene.      
  • A strong base in the diastereoselective alkylation reactions.
  • A reagent to synthesize 2-benzoylpyrroles by reacting benzaldehydes with di(1H-pyrrol-1-yl)zirconium(IV) chloride complex.

Packaging

The 25 mL Sure/Seal bottle is recommended as a single-use bottle. Repeated punctures will likely result in decreased performance of product.

Legal Information

Sure/Seal is a trademark of Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC

Signal Word

Danger

Hazard Classifications

Aquatic Acute 1 - Aquatic Chronic 1 - Asp. Tox. 1 - Eye Dam. 1 - Flam. Liq. 2 - Skin Corr. 1B - STOT SE 3 - Water-react 1

Target Organs

Central nervous system

Supplementary Hazards

Storage Class Code

4.3 - Hazardous materials which set free flammable gases upon contact with water

WGK

WGK 2

Flash Point(F)

-0.4 °F - closed cup

Flash Point(C)

-18 °C - closed cup

Personal Protective Equipment

dust mask type N95 (US), Eyeshields, Gloves

Certificates of Analysis (COA)

Search for Certificates of Analysis (COA) by entering the products Lot/Batch Number. Lot and Batch Numbers can be found on a product’s label following the words ‘Lot’ or ‘Batch’.

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Comparison of the synthetic utility of n-butyllithium and lithium diisopropylamide in the metalations of N, N-dialkyltoluamides.
Ludt RE, et al
The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 38(9), 1668-1674 (1973)
Arene-metal complexes. 13. Reaction of substituted (benzene) tricarbonylchromium complexes with n-butyllithium.
Card RJ and Trahanovsky WS.
The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 45(13), 2560-2566 (1980)
High-field proton NMR study of the aggregation and complexation of n-butyllithium in tetrahydrofuran.
McGarrity JF and Ogle CA.
Journal of the American Chemical Society, 107(7), 1805-1810 (1985)
Lithium intercalation via n-butyllithium of the layered transition metal dichalcogenides.
Dines MB.
Materials Research Bulletin, 10(4), 287-291 (1975)
Yuqiang Ma et al.
ACS nano, 9(7), 7383-7391 (2015-07-01)
Two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have stimulated lots of interest because they are direct bandgap materials that have reasonably good mobility values. However, contact between most metals and semiconducting TMDCs like 2H phase WSe2 are highly resistive

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