There are many important organozinc compounds. Organozinc chemistry is the science of organozinc compounds describing their physical properties, synthesis and reactions. Among important applications is the Frankland-Duppa Reaction in which an oxalate ester(ROCOCOOR) reacts with an alkyl halide R'X, zinc and hydrochloric acid to the α-hydroxycarboxylic esters RR'COHCOOR, the Reformatskii reaction which converts α-halo-esters and aldehydes to β-hydroxy-esters, the Simmons–Smith reaction in which the carbenoid (iodomethyl)zinc iodide reacts with alkene(or alkyne) and converts them to cyclopropane, the Addition reaction of organozinc compounds to carbonyl compounds. The Barbier reaction (1899) is the zinc equivalent of the magnesium Grignard reaction and is better of the two. In presence of just about any water the formation of the organomagnesium halide will fail, whereas the Barbier reaction can even take place in water. On the downside organozincs are much less nucleophilic than Grignards, are expensive and difficult to handle. Commercially available diorganozinc compounds are dimethylzinc, diethylzinc and diphenylzinc. In one study the active organozinc compound is obtained from much cheaper organobromine precursors:
What does organozinc chemisty describe?
physical properties, synthesis and reactions.