Professor Hans J. Reich, of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, is supported by the Organic Synthesis Program for his synthetic and mechanistic studies of organometallic reagents. His research is aimed at gaining a mechanistic understanding of a number of important reactions and processes in organolithium chemistry, including chelation effects, the role of ion pair structure on reactivity, the formation and potential interconversion of allenyl and propargyllithium reagents, the properties of stereochemically defined organolithium reagents, and the thermodynamics of the lithium metalloid exchange reaction. With the support of the Organic Synthesis Program, Professor Hans J. Reich, of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, studies the chemistry of certain classes of organometallic compounds, molecules bearing metal-carbon bonds. His research is focused primarily on organolithium compounds, which play a central role in both organic and inorganic chemistry. Lithium reagents are often used in reactions forming new carbon-carbon bonds and thereby helping to build up the often complex structures of compounds displaying interesting chemical or biological activity. In addition, they are also common precursors to many other organometallic reagents which provide additional opportunities to synthetic chemists. Professor Reich explores organolithium compounds in solution in order to provide a better understanding of the factors influencing their structure and chemistry, thereby helping to achieve better predictability of their chemical reactions and expanding the applications of lithium reagents.
