This chiral organolithium reagent is used as a source of sec-butyl carbanion in organic synthesis.

[4] It also exists as tetramers when dissolved in organic solvents such as benzene, cyclohexane or cyclopentane.

[5] In electron-donating solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, there exists an equilibrium between monomeric and dimeric forms.

[6] The carbon-lithium bond is highly polar, rendering the carbon basic, as in other organolithium reagents.

sec-BuLi is employed for deprotonations of particularly weak carbon acids where the more conventional reagent n-BuLi is unsatisfactory.