The liquid-liquid extraction of the thiocyanate-oxide derivatives, exploits the slightly greater solubility of the hafnium derivative in methyl isobutyl ketone vs water.
It may be synthesized from isobutanol by conversion into isovaleraldehyde, which is subsequently reduced to isobutyl carbinol by means of sodium amalgam.
As steric hindrance around the electrophilic center increases, as with isobutyl bromide, substitution is disfavored and elimination is the predominant reaction.
