A study of the reaction of n-BuLi with Ti(Oi-Pr)4 as a method to generate titanacyclopropane and titanacyclopropene species

The use of the combination of reagents Ti(Oi-Pr)4/n-BuLi, introduced by the group of J.J. Eisch in 2001, has only found a few applications so far, with sometimes conflicting observations. This article describes a study aimed at clarifying the nature, the stability and the reactivity of the active organometallic species involved. Reactions with CO2 and other trapping reagents reveal that it is generated within a few minutes at 0 °C in THF, where it can be considered to be stable for 30 min. Most of our results are consistent with the expected titanacyclopropane nature of this reagent but some observations suggest that the chemistry at play may be more complicated.