Reducing the entry barrier to heavy alkali metal organometallics

This thesis focusses on sodium amide chemistry that has previously been described, with an emphasis on ‘simplifying’ preparation & handling of some known species, as well as determining solutions to improve practical application and, ideally, eliminating the dependence on organolithium reagents. Described in the text include a new method to prepare a series of novel asymmetric species via a sodium enolate intermediate, which was prepared in situ, directly from sodium metal, without the need for n-butylsodium, or any organolithium reagents.