ABSTRACT
In addition to its multitude of applications in organic chemistry [1,2], lithium aluminum hydride can also be used to prepare unstable inorganic hydrides, such as B2H6, SiH4, ZnH2, and BeH2, an application to which it was originally put by its discoverers [4]. Although fairly readily available, it is quite expensive and often quite impure. Lithium hydride, from which it is easily prepared, is substantially cheaper, much more inert, stores better, and is easier to handle than LiAlH4. Moreover, as demonstrated by the present experiment, the apparatus used for preparing LiAlH4 can often be used without further modi‘cation to carry out hydrogenation in situ. Hence, the present laboratory preparation offers some advantages.
