Organolithium reagent
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An organolithium reagent is a carbon nucleophile similar to a Grignard reagent. Preperation of Organolithium reagents is usually achieved by reaction of an organohalogen with lithium metal, i.e. R-X +2Li => R-Li + LiX. Alkyl bromides in particular undergo this reaction with impressive speed.
Organolithium reagents are used in organic synthesis, and are known under the collective class of organometallic compounds.
The most commonly used organolithium reagents are methyllithium, n-butyllithium, and t-butyllithium. t-butyllithium, or tert-butyllithium is the single strongest base that is commercially available, with a pKa greater than 85.