Alkaline earth metal-complexed metal amides

1. A process for preparing an AE-complexed metal amide of formula (I)

wherein

AE is an alkaline earth metal selected from calcium and magnesium;

M is a metal selected from Sc, Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Al;

X is a halogen atom selected from the group consisting of fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine;

R 1 and R 2 are each independently selected from the group consisting of (C 1 -C 8 )alkyl optionally substituted by 1-2 R 3 radicals;

or

R 1 and R 2 together form a —(CH 2 ) 4 —, —(CH 2 ) 5 — or —(CH 2 ) 2 O(CH 2 ) 2 — group, where each of these groups may optionally be substituted by 1-4 R 4 radicals;

R 3 is independently selected from halogen, (C 1 -C 3 )alkoxy, (C 1 -C 3 )haloalkoxy and (C 2 -C 4 )dialkylamino;

R 4 is selected from halogen, (C 1 -C 3 )alkyl, (C 1 -C 3 )alkoxy, (C 1 -C 3 )haloalkoxy and (C 2 -C 4 )dialkylamino,

by reacting a chloroamine of formula (II)

with one or more alkaline earth metals (AE) in elemental form and one or more metals (M) in elemental form, where R 1 , R 2 , AE and M are each as defined above.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein

AE is an alkaline earth metal selected from calcium and magnesium;

M is a metal selected from Sc, Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Al;

X is a halogen atom selected from chlorine and bromine;

R 1 and R 2 together form a —(CH 2 ) 4 —, —(CH 2 ) 5 — or —(CH 2 ) 2 O(CH 2 ) 2 — group, where each of these groups may optionally be substituted by 1-4 R 5 radicals;

R 5 is selected from methyl, ethyl, n-propyl and i-propyl.

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein

AE is an alkaline earth metal selected from calcium and magnesium;

M is a metal selected from Ti, Mn, Fe, Zn and Al;

X is chlorine;

R 1 and R 2 together form a —(CH 2 ) 5 — group substituted by 4 methyl groups.

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein

AE is Ca or Mg;

M is Zn or Mn;

X is chlorine; and

R 1 and R 2 together form a —C(CH 3 ) 2 (CH 2 ) 3 —C(CH 3 ) 2 — group.

5. The process according to claim 1 , wherein

AE is Ca or Mg;

M is Zn;

X is chlorine; and

R 1 and R 2 together form a —C(CH 3 ) 2 (CH 2 ) 3 —C(CH 3 ) 2 — group.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein said process is executed within a temperature range from +20 to −20° C.

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the reacting is performed in a coordinating solvent selected from THF, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, t-butyl methyl ether, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, diethyl ether, di-n-butyl ether and methyl cyclopentyl ether, or mixtures thereof.

8. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the reacting is performed in a mixture of a coordinating solvent selected from THF, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, t-butyl methyl ether, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, di-n-butyl ether, methyl cyclopentyl ether and diethyl ether, and a noncoordinating solvent selected from aromatics, alkyl-substituted aromatics, alkanes, cycloalkanes and/or alkyl-substituted cycloalkanes.

9. The process according to claim 1 for preparation of an AE-complexed metal amide of the formula (I), wherein the process is performed in the presence of one or more lithium salts.

10. An AE-complexed metal amide of formula (I)

wherein

AE is an alkaline earth metal selected from calcium and magnesium;

M is a metal selected from Sc, Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Al;

X is a halogen atom selected from the group consisting of fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine;

R 1 and R 2 are each independently selected from the group consisting of (C 1 -C 8 )alkyl optionally substituted by 1-2 R 3 radicals;

or

R 1 and R 2 together form a —(CH 2 ) 4 —, —(CH 2 ) 5 — or —(CH 2 ) 2 O(CH 2 ) 2 — group, where each of these groups may optionally be substituted by 1-4 R 4 radicals;

R 3 is independently selected from halogen, (C 1 -C 3 )alkoxy, (C 1 -C 3 )haloalkoxy and (C 2 -C 4 )dialkylamino;

R 4 is selected from halogen, (C 1 -C 3 )alkyl, (C 1 -C 3 )alkoxy, (C 1 -C 3 )haloalkoxy and (C 2 -C 4 )dialkylamino,

obtainable by the process according to claim 1 .

11. An AE-complexed metal amide of formula (I-i)

wherein

AE is selected from Ca and Mg;

M is a metal selected from Sc, Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Al;

X is a halogen atom selected from chlorine and bromine.

12. An AE-complexed zinc amide of formula (I-ii)

wherein AE is an alkaline earth metal selected from calcium and magnesium.

13. A method for metallation of one or more aromatics, heteroaromatics, alkenes, alkynes and/or other organic compounds having activated C—H bonds, comprising employing an AE-complexed metal amide according to claim 10 as a base for the metallation.

14. An amide according to claim 10 in the presence of one or more lithium salts.

15. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the reacting is performed in a mixture of a coordinating solvent selected from benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, cyclohexane, n-heptane, isooctane and/or methylcyclohexane.