ABSTRACT

A favorable combination of physical and chemical properties makes lithium the least challenging of the alkali metals to produce electrolytically in the laboratory. Lithium is useful for the preparation of a series of organolithium compounds for although the Li-C bond displays a greater covalent character and less reactivity than that of other alkali metals, it is more stable. Organolithium compounds are stronger bases and nucleophiles and thus more reactive than Grignard reagents, with whom they share a number of common reactions.