[<i>n</i>BuLi · LiO<i>t</i>Bu]₄, Solid‐State Structure of an <i>n</i>‐Butyllithium–Lithium <i>tert</i>‐Butoxide Complex

Abstract

Strikingly short Li–β‐C(Bu) and Li–β‐H distances (ca. 235 and 205 pm) characterize the crystal structure of the tetramer [ n BuLiLiO t Bu] 4 . Half of the Li atoms are threefold coordinated (to two O atoms and one α‐C atom), the other half fourfold coordinated (to one O atom, two α‐C atoms, and one α‐C atom). On the basis of the structure of this tetramer one can speculate on the structure of the complex superbases (“Lochmann bases”) [RLi · MOR′] (M = Na, K, Rb, Cs).