Antimony

Abstract

Antimony-carbon bonds are readily formed by the reaction between an antimony halide and a reactive organometallic compound, such as a Grignard [341], organolithium [342], or organoaluminium [343] reagent, e.g.:

$$ 3PhLi + SbC{l_3} \to P{h_3}Sb + 3LiCl $$

$$ 6MeMgI + 2SbC{l_3} \to 2M{e_3}Sb + 3MgC{l_2} + 3Mg{I_2} $$

$$ 3E{t_3}Al + Sb{F_3} \to E{t_3}Sb + 3E{t_2}AlF $$

Aluminium reagents can also be used to alkylate the oxide, Sb₂O₃ [17]:

$$ S{b_2}{O_3} + 2{R_3}Al \rightleftharpoons {\left( {{R_2}Sb} \right)_2}O + 2RAlO\overset{{{R_3}Al}}{\rightleftharpoons} 2{R_3}Sb + 3RAlO $$

Alternatively, a bimetallic reagent such as NaAlR₃OR′ can be electrolysed using an antimony anode [344].