Structures and aggregation states of fluoromethyllithium and chloromethyllithium carbenoids in the gas phase and in ethereal solvent

Using high-level quantum mechanical calculations and various models to account for solvation effects, monomers and dimers of fluoromethyllithium and chloromethyllithium carbenoids are studied in the gas phase and in dimethyl ether solvent. A combination of explicit microsolvation and a continuum reaction field is required to account fully for the structural and energetic effects of solvation. One important effect of solvent is the stabilization of charge-separated structures in which the lithium-halogen distance is much greater than in the gas-phase structures. At the most complete level of theory the 173 K standard-state free energy of dimerization of fluoromethyllithium in dimethyl ether is predicted to be -0.9 kcal mol(-)(1), while that for chloromethyllithium in the same solvent is predicted to be 3.7 kcal mol(-)(1). This suggests that, under typical experimental conditions, dimers of chloroalkyllithiums will not be observed, while dimers of fluoroalkyllithiums may contribute to the equilibrium population at a detectable level.