Influence of Lewis Base Complexation and the Degree of Aggregation of Alkyllithium Compounds on the Ration in Which They Form Addition Products and Enolates with Ketones

The difference between 1 and 2 lies only in the number of nitrogen atoms and not in the carbanionic unit. Since 1, which is a tetramer, reacts with ketones to form adducts almost exclusively, but 2 virtually only enolates, the type of product formed is linked to the degree of aggregation, which in turn depends on the Lewis base. equation image