Metallization of 1-substituted 1-benzyl-o-carboranes with n-butyllithium and some conversions of 1-R-2-benzyllithium-o-carboranes

It was shown that 1-R-2-benzyl-o-carboranes (R=Me, i-Pr, Ph, PhCH₂) and other derivatives of o-carborane containing an ArCH₂ group in positions 1 and 2 are readily metallized by n-butyllithium, forming the corresponding benzyllithium derivatives, which react with electrophilic reagents like the usual organolithium compounds, permitting the synthesis of various C-substituted 1-o-carboranes.A. N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Heteroorganic Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117813 Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 431–435, February, 1992.