Potassium
tert-pentoxide solution can be used as a base in the:
- Wittig reaction of ketoesters with methyltriphenylphosphonium bromide to synthesize alkenes.
- Palladium-catalyzed Buchwald-Hartwig amination reaction.
It can also be used:
- To prepare potassium tert-pentoxide-crown ether complexes, which is used as a Lewis base catalyst in Mukaiyama aldol reaction.
- As an activator for (difluoromethyl)trimethylsilane to generate difluoromethyl-carbanion which reacts with isothiocyanate to synthesize α, α-difluoromethyl thioamide.