Solvent-free mesityllithium: solid-state structure and its reactivity towards white phosphorus.

The donor-free mesityllithium was prepared from the reaction of MesBr with n-BuLi in diethyl ether at -78 degrees C. The solid-state structure of unsupported mesityllithium consists of C(2)Li(2)-rings composed of two LiMes units, which interact with adjacent dimers [LiMes](2), forming a polymeric infinite chain along the crystallographic c-axis (monoclinic space group, P2(1)/n). The structure of donor-free mesityllithium reveals short contacts between the C atoms of the mesityl rings and the lithium atoms of neighbouring [LiMes](2) units. The structure determination of LiMes was performed by X-ray powder diffraction. In addition we have investigated the reaction of LiMes with Me(3)SnCl and P(4) for our understanding of the reactivity of donor-free mesityllithium. The heterogeneous reaction of donor-free mesityllithium with Me(3)SnCl produces conveniently the stannylated mesitylene Me(3)SnMes (triclinic, space group P1). White phosphorus reacts with three equivalents of unsupported mesityllithium in benzene to give Li(3)P(4)Mes(3). In this context it should be noted that a tetraphosphide with an identical LiP-core as in Li(3)P(4)Mes(3) had been formed in the 1:3 reaction of P(4) with the silanide Li[SitBu(3)]. The tetraphosphide Li(3)P(4)Mes(3) was analyzed using X-ray crystallography (monoclinic, space group C2/c).