CLUSTERING OF METAL ATOMS IN ORGANIC MEDIA .7. ACTIVE METAL SLURRIES BY METAL VAPOR TECHNIQUES - REACTIONS WITH ALKYL AND ARYL HALIDES

The low-temperature codesposition of metal vapors with solvents in high excess, followed by warming and subsequent partial reclustering of metal atoms, allows preparation of very active metal particles in slurry form. Thus, slurries of Al, In, Zn, Cd, Sn, Pb, and Ni were prepared in either xylene, toluene, hexane, tetrahydrofuran, or diglyme. These metal-organic dispersions ere allowed to react with alkyl and aryl halides: (Al)n/solvent with ArX yielded ArxAlX3-x; (In)n/solvent with RX yielded RxInI3-x; (Zn)n/solvent with RX yielded R2Zn, which could readily be isolated in nonsolvated form, and (Zn)n/solvent with CH2X2/olefin yielded Simmons-Smith chemistry in fair to poor yields; (Cd)n/solvent with RX yielded RCdX, in some cases in nonsolvated form; (Sn)n/solvent with RX yielded RxSnI4-x; (Pb)n/solvent with RX yielded R3PbX; and (Ni)n/solvent with RX yielded organic products resulting from R or RNiX intermediates. The active powders prepared from the slurries by solvent evaporation were storable for many months without significant loss in activity, as measured by RX reaction rates after readdition of pure solvent. © 1979, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.