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Reactive Group Datasheet

Metal Hydrides, Metal Alkyls, Metal Aryls, and Silanes

What are reactive groups?

Reactive groups are categories of chemicals that typically react in similar ways because they are similar in their chemical structure. Each substance with a chemical datasheet has been assigned to one or more reactive groups, and CAMEO Chemicals uses the reactive group assignments to make its reactivity predictions. More info about reactivity predictions...

If you can't find a chemical in the database--but you know what reactive group it belongs in--you can add the reactive group to MyChemicals instead in order to see the reactivity predictions.

There are 39 chemical datasheets assigned to this reactive group.

Description

Flammability
Many of these compounds are pyrophoric (flammable by spontaneous chemical reaction in air). They produce highly flammable gases in the presence of acid. The metal hydrides are combustible. Combustion of all compounds in this class produces irritating and toxic gases.
Reactivity
Materials in this group are reducing agents and react rapidly and dangerously with oxygen and with other oxidizing agents, even weak ones. Thus, they are likely to ignite on contact with water, alcohols, and acids, forming flammable hydrogen or hydrocarbon gases which ignite due to the exothermic nature of the reaction. Hydrides are incompatible with acids, alcohols, amines, and aldehydes.
Toxicity
Extremely corrosive and irritating to mucous membranes, eyes, and the respiratory tract. Fumes are a serious inhalation hazard. Some of these materials are gases and are extremely poisonous by inhalation.
Other Characteristics
Compounds in this group are generally used as reducing agents in industrial chemical synthesis and may act as catalysts. Metal hydrides and silanes are used as sources of the hydride ion (H-). This group also includes organomagnesium (Grignard) reagents and organolithium reagents, which are strong carbon bases and are used as alkylating agents in organic synthesis.

The metal compounds covered in this group contain main group metals (Groups 1A, 2A, and 3A) which form non-redox-active cations. The hydride, alkyl, and aryl compounds of transition metals are generally less reactive than those of the main group metals, and they are covered in Group 42, Organometallics.
Examples
Aluminum borohydride, aluminum hydride, calcium hydride, diborane, lithium aluminum hydride, lithium hydride, magnesium hydride, sodium borohydride, sodium hydride, trimethylsilane, butyllithium, methylmagnesium bromide, phenyllithium.

Reactivity Documentation

Use the links below to find out how this reactive group interacts with any of the reactive groups in the database.

The predicted hazards and gas byproducts for each reactive group pair will be displayed, as well as documentation and references that were used to make the reactivity predictions.

Mix Metal Hydrides, Metal Alkyls, Metal Aryls, and Silanes with: