Wurtz reaction

The Wurtz reaction, named after Charles Adolphe Wurtz, is a coupling reaction in organic chemistry, organometallic chemistry and recently inorganic main group polymers, whereby two alkyl halides are reacted with sodium metal in dry ether solution to form a higher alkane: R-X+2Na+X-R --> R-R+2NaX +X− Other metals have also been used to effect the Wurtz coupling, among them silver, zinc, iron, activated copper, indium and a mixture of manganese and copper chloride. The related reaction dealing with aryl halides is called the Wurtz-Fittig reaction. This can be explained by the formation of free radical intermediate and its subsequent disproportionation to give alkene. The Wurtz reaction occurs through a free radical mechanism that makes possible side reactions producing alkene products. The reaction consists of a halogen-metal exchange involving the radical species R• (in a similar fashion to the formation of a Grignard reagent) with carbon–carbon bond formation occurring in a nucleophilic substitution reaction.