Reaction of 2,6-bis[(dimethylamino)methyl]-4-methylphenol with n-butyllithium affords quantitatively [LiOAr]3[OAr = OC6H2(CH2NMe2)2-2,6-Me-4]1, which has an unprecedented trinuclear structure both in solution (cryoscopy in C6H6) and in the solid state (X-ray); 1 reacts selectively with Lil to form the adduct [Li2(OAr)l]22 which has a tetranuclear structure (X-ray).
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Schaaf et al. (1992) studied this question.