Edward Frankland first reported the compound in 1848 from zinc and ethyl iodide, the first organozinc compound discovered.[2][3] He improved the synthesis by using diethyl mercury as starting material.[4] The contemporary synthesis consists of the reaction of a 1:1 mixture of ethyl iodide and ethyl bromide with a zinc-copper couple, a source of reactive zinc.[5]
Structure
The compound crystallizes in a tetragonal body-centered unit cell of space group symmetry I41md. In the solid-state diethylzinc shows nearly linear Zn centres. The Zn-C bonds measure 194.8(5) pm, while the C-Zn-C angle is slightly bent with 176.2(4)°.[6] The structure of the gas-phase shows a very similar Zn-C distance (195.0(2) pm).[7]
Diethylzinc is not limited to only being used in chemistry. Because of its high reactivity toward air, it was used in small quantities as a hypergolic or "self igniting" liquid rocket fuel[14]: 9 [15]: 323 —it ignites on contact with oxidizer, so the rocket motor need only contain a pump, without a spark source for ignition. Diethylzinc was also investigated by the United States Library of Congress as a potential means of mass deacidification of books printed on wood pulp paper. Diethylzinc vapour would, in theory, neutralize acid residues in the paper, leaving slightly alkalinezinc oxide residues. Although initial results were promising, the project was abandoned. A variety of adverse results prevented the method's adoption. Most infamously, the final prototype suffered damage in a series of diethylzinc explosions from trace amounts of water vapor in the chamber. This led the authors of the study to humorously comment:
It has also been established that tight or loose packing of books; the amount of alkaline reserve; reactions of DEZ with degradation products, unknown paper chemicals and adhesives; phases of the moon and the positions of various planets and constellations do not have any influence on the observed adverse effects of DEZ treatment.[16]
The pyrophoricity of diethylzinc can be used to test the inert atmosphere inside a glovebox. An oxygen concentration of only a few parts per million will cause a bottle of diethylzinc to fume when opened.[17]
^Dietmar Seyferth (2001). "Zinc Alkyls, Edward Frankland, and the Beginnings of Main-Group Organometallic Chemistry". Organometallics. 20 (14): 2940–2955. doi:10.1021/om010439f.
^A. Haaland; J. C. Green; G. S. McGrady; A. J. Downs; E. Gullo; M. J. Lyall; J. Timberlake (2003). "The length, strength and polarity of metal–carbon bonds: dialkylzinc compounds studied by density functional theory calculations, gas electron diffraction and photoelectron spectroscopy". Dalton Transactions (22): 4356–4366. doi:10.1039/B306840B.
^Dmitri V. Talapin; Ivo Mekis; Stephan Götzinger; Andreas Kornowski; Oliver Benson; Horst Weller† (2004). "CdSe/CdS/ZnS and CdSe/ZnSe/ZnS Core−Shell−Shell Nanocrystals". Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 108 (49): 18826–18831. doi:10.1021/jp046481g.
^Mitsuo Sawamoto; Chihiro Okamoto; Toshinobu Higashimura (1987). "Hydrogen iodide/zinc iodide: a new initiating system for living cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers at room temperature". Macromolecules. 20 (11): 2693–2697. Bibcode:1987MaMol..20.2693S. doi:10.1021/ma00177a010.