Lithium is the alkali metal with the most-est Atomic weight, lightest. . . ionic radius, smallest . . . specific gravity, lowesi . . . bonding energy, strongest... heat capacity, highest. . . heat of vaporization, greatest . . . reaction with water, slowest. . . reaction with hydrogen, fastest. . . liquid range, widest. That's a good bit of the lithium metal story right there! But it's not all. The part that should interest you most is the many present and future uses of lithium's est's in the chemical industry. As the alkali metal with the widest liquid range, lithium shows great promise as a super heat transfer agent. Lithium also has the necessary high heat capacity and good thermal conductivity. In the polymerization of olefins, lithium metal is showing unique catalytic properties distinct from that
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of the other alkali metals, especially in the polymerization of isoprene to natural-type rubber. Organolithium compounds made from lithium metal are used as alkylating agents in Grignard-type reactions. Lithium metal is also used to prepare lithium hydride which in turn is used in synthesizing simple and complex hydrides. Presumably, it is the very slight solubility of the lithium hydride above that of the other alkali hydrides that makes lithium hydride so useful. It stands to r e a s o n . . . if you're looking for the most-est in an alkali metal, you should investigate lithium . . . you should read our Bulletin 101 Lithium Metal. For your copy, write Technical Literature Dept., Foote Mineral Company, 416 Eighteen West Chelten Building, Philadelphia 44, Pennsylvania.
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