An alternative in the Dieckmann condensation for bird shot sodium in xylene would be NaH in benzene. The yield for NaH in benzene is better ... but benzene is rather dangerous to work with (at least for the hobby chemist without a fumehood) & I guess benzene would be more difficult to obtain than xylene.
Would NaH also be suspicious? Mabey bird shot sodium would be the better alternative (if one makes abstraction of the yields).
And, would it be OK to just mix the mineral oil suspension in the xylene or does one have to pick the sodium granules out of the mineral oil solution with a pincet?
EDIT: found also a vague description about the Dieckmann condensation with NaH in toluene. The yield (80 %) however is lower than with NaH in benzene (90+ %). However, this is better than the reaction with bird shot sodium. So, NaH in toluene seems to be preferable for those without a fumehood. If NaH isn't too suspicious ...
Can someone please look up what the price of say 25 g NaH would be?
Thx