Sciencemadness Discussion Board

NaBH4 and LiAlH4

adfa - 19-11-2006 at 06:26

Hi all,
Found this website, and ive been reading a few things here and there, some things are really interesting, and you all seem to know a lot, so i thought i'd ask you.

I've been set work to compare LiAlH4 and NaBH4 (mainly, but not limited, their ability as reducing agents), and i have tried searching the web for answers, but i can not find any which really answer my question. Also, my textbook, is of absolutely no use at all...:(

So any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

(PS Wish i could be more specific about what we had to do, but that was all we were told)

woelen - 19-11-2006 at 07:53

There is another very recent thread on this:

https://sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=7015

Nicodem - 19-11-2006 at 08:17

Read a book on the issue:
Reductions by the Alumino and Borohydrides in Organic Synthesis (Seyden-Penne, 1997)
(available as e-book)

There are also a bunch of review papers on either of the two reagents and their specific use:

Chemical Society Reviews, 27 (1998) 395-404.
Journal of Organometallic Chemistry, 609 (2000) 137–151.
Tetrahedron, 35 (1979) 567-607.
Pure & Appl. Chem., 68 (1996) 843-848.
Synlett (2005) 182–183.

These are just a couple of reviews I have, mostly on NaBH4, but there are certainly many others as well.

adfa - 19-11-2006 at 08:17

Thanks, i already saw this, but it was in general chemistry, and so i thought i better post my question in the beginners section. Also, there were a few things there, which were useful, but it didnt seem to answer the question overall. I'm still not sure whether to post my question in it, should i?
Thanks anyway!