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

Lithium dicyclohexylamide (Cy2NLi) reacts with syn-gas or CO to generate transient intermediates with carbene character, which are capable of reacting further with CO or H2, effecting sequential C–C and C–H bond formations from CO or H2, 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 H2 are thermodynamically accessible, with a kinetic bias toward CO homologation.