Formation and Reactions of Alkylzinc Reagents in Ionic Liquids

Significance

Ionic liquids are a new and quite perspective class of solvents, which often displays interesting aspects of known reactions as well as allows developing new synthetic methods. Usual ionic liquids are not suitable solvents for the formation of organometallic reagents. However, 1-(n-Bu)Py⁺BF₄ ^- ([bpy]BF₄) is an exception and can be used for the reaction between Alk-I and Zn. The formed alkylzinc species reacts without additional catalyst with aryl aldehydes, sometimes giving products in good yield. This is the first example of the formation and reaction of an organometallic reactant in ionic liquids. The ionic liquid can be easily recycled. This work opens up new perspectives in the promising field of reactions in ionic liquids.