, the First Cyclized Lithium Amide Ladder: Synthesis and Structure of Hexamethyleneimidolithium

The title compound is best described not as two superimposed cyclic trimers, but rather as a “cyclic ladder” with six rungs. In crystalline form it exists as the hexamer 1. This is the first noncomplexed oligomeric lithium amide derivative with n > 4, as well as the first that does not consist of a simple, planar (NLi)n ring. Cryoscopic and 7Li NMR measurements verify that solutions of 1 contain not only the hexamer but also higher aggregates.