Carbon-carbon bond formations using organolithium reagents

Novel methodologies for the formation of carbon-carbon bond formations.
Organolithium reagents are highly reactive compounds, but once their reactivity can be controlled, they have proven to be excellent coupling partners in the synthesis of a variety of molecules. Because of their reactivity, these novel reactions can be carried out at low temperatures, and with remarkable speed. Even at room temperature, some reactions proceed in just 5 seconds. This is also the fastest coupling reaction reported to date. The speed of this reaction has been used in the synthesis of short-lived radiolabelled pharmaceuticals in order to cope with the time depended degradation of the drug, and in a novel, efficient and "green" synthesis of the breast cancer drug Z-Tamoxifen.