Dr. Richard J. Lagow of the Chemistry Department at the University of Texas at Austin is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Program for continued research on the synthesis, structure, and bonding of polylithium organic compounds. In these species, two or more lithium atoms are attached to the same, adjacent, or nearly adjacent carbon atoms. Two of the novel compounds that will be attempted to be prepared are tetralithioethylene and perlithioadamantane. Thermal rearrangement synthesis will continue to be used for substituted dilithiomethanes and lithium-halogen exchange techniques will also be explored. Formation of silicon, germanium, and oxygen compunds containing lithium as a substituent will be attempted. Four-center, two-electron bonding has been proposed to rationalize the structures thus far observed so attempts will be made to apply that model in new compounds. Noble gas matrix isolation, mass spectrometry, and crystallographic techniques will be used to characterize the products. %%% The polylithium compounds proposed for synthesis and characterization are unusual and highly reactive molecules. They may find utility as new materials or in new types of solid or liquid batteries, but their immediate usefulness will likely be in expanding methods available for synthesis of other organic and organometallic compounds.
