[Cesium-137]

Hi all,
I was looking for input on the best way to lithiate an alkyl halide. The problem is, the alkyl halide has a great LG on one end and the halide on the other, so once the halide is exchanged with lithium, intramolecular reactions can occur as well as polymerization. I've tried Li/X exchange with BuLi, but I am wondering if I could expect less side products and a cleaner reaction if I do a direct lithiation with 2eq Li metal. Any thoughts?
Thanks!

[Schrödinger]

Yes, I think adding 2 eq Li metal should do the trick. This is, after all, the first step in the famous Corey-House synthesis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corey-House_synthesis

[Doc Oc]

I used tert-butyl lithium for this type of exchange and it worked fine.  It's a bit more on safety officers' radar these days, so that might be a headache.

Don't have any advice on how to avoid intramolecular reaction, that's not gonna be easy.