Magnesium bisamides as reagents in synthesis.

As part of the continued requirement for more selective reagents in organic synthesis, magnesium bisamides are becoming established as a class of organometallic bases with considerable potential. Their relatively mild reactivity, combined with their high degree of steric congestion, leads to a distinct class of reagents with significantly different chemo-, regio-, stereo- and enantioselectivities when compared with existing species and protocols.