any chemical process by which a metal atom is introduced into an organic molecule to form an organometallic compound, but more commonly the process involving a hydrogenmetal exchange. An example is the metalation of benzene (C6H6) by reaction with ethylsodium (C2H5Na), forming phenylsodium (C6H5Na) and ethane (C2H6). Metalation by means of hydrogenmetal exchange is a very powerful method of removing a hydrogen atom (in the form of its cation, H+) from a chemical compound; the reaction, therefore, is useful in studying the relative acidities of such extremely weak acids as the hydrocarbons.
METALATION
Meaning of METALATION in English
Britannica English vocabulary. Английский словарь Британика. 2012