Ab initio modeling of organolithium equilibria.

Experimental ion pair pK's of monomeric contact ion pair lithium salts in THF from our previous studies give good correlations with ab initio calculations at the Hartree-Fock 6-31+g(d) level. PCM methods were found to be inadequate in nonpolar organic solvents, and dielectric solvation was not used in the correlations. Specific coordination of two or three ether solvent molecules with lithium was found to be satisfactory.

Kinetic and equilibrium lithium acidities of arenes: theory and experiment.

Kinetic acidities of arenes, ArH, measured some time ago by hydrogen isotope exchange kinetics with lithium cyclohexylamide (LiCHA) in cyclohexylamine (CHA) show a wide range of reactivities that involve several electronic mechanisms. These experimental reactivities give an excellent Brønsted correlation with equilibrium lithium ion pair acidities (pK(Li)) derived as shown recently from computations of ArLi.2E (E = dimethyl ether).