Organolithium and organosodium compounds of n-substituted 2-alkylbenzimidazoles

Organolithium and organosodium compounds of 1,2-dimethyl-, 1-methyl-2-ethyl-, 1-methyl-2-propyl-, and 1-phenyl-2-methylbenzimidazole, containing the metal in the alkyl group at position C(₂), were obtained by metallation. It was found that metallation can be complicated by the addition of the metalling reagent at the C=N bond of the heterocycle. It was shown that the obtained organometallic compounds can be used for the synthesis of various derivatives of benzimidazole.The calculation was performed with the standard bond lengths. A planar model was used for the carbanion.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 8, pp. 1073–1077, August, 1986.