Dibutylmagnesium is an organometallic chemical compound of magnesium. Its chemical formula is . Dibutylmagnesium is a chemical compound from the group of organomagnesium compounds. The pure substance is a waxy solid. Commercially, it is marketed as a solution in heptane.
Dibutylmagnesium can be obtained by the reaction of butyllithium with butylmagnesium chloride and the subsequent addition of magnesium 2-ethylhexanoate. The compound can also be prepared by hydrogenation of magnesium, followed by a reaction with 1-butene. It is also possible to prepare dibutylmagnesium using 2-chlorobutane, magnesium powder, and n-butyllithium.
Dibutylmagnesium is used as a convenient reagent for the preparation of organomagnesium compounds.