Wurtztype
Wurtztype is a term used in organic chemistry to describe a class of carbon–carbon bond–forming reactions that resemble the mechanistic features of the classical Wurtz reaction. Named for the 19th‑century work of Charles Adolphe Wurtz, Wurtztype methods generally involve single-electron transfer from an alkali metal (commonly sodium or potassium) to organohalide substrates, generating radical intermediates that couple to form new hydrocarbon chains or frameworks. The designation covers variants and extensions of the original Wurtz reaction, including cross-coupling schemes and related radical‑coupling processes such as those sometimes described as Wurtz-type or Wurtz-type polymerization.
Mechanistically, the metal donates an electron to the organic halide to give a radical anion, which fragments
Scope and limitations: Wurtztype approaches can form higher alkanes or more complex hydrocarbon architectures, but they
See also: Wurtz reaction, Wurtz–Fittig reaction, radical coupling, cross-coupling.