Lithium Dicyclohexylamide in Transition-Metal-Free Fischer–Tropsch Chemistry

Lithium dicyclohexylamide (Cy 2 NLi) reacts with syn-gas or CO to generate transient intermediates with carbene character, which are capable of reacting further with CO or H 2, effecting sequential C–C and C–H bond formations from CO or H 2, thus providing a transition-metal-free avenue to the fundamental reactions of the Fischer–Tropsch process. Further experimental and computational data indicate that reactions with CO and H 2 are thermodynamically accessible, with a kinetic bias toward CO homologation.