2-Ethylhexanoic acid is the with the CH3(CH2)3CH(C2H5)CO2H. This is widely used to prepare metal derivatives that are soluble in nonpolar organic solvents. These lipophilic metal-containing derivatives are used as in . For example, tin 2-ethylhexanoate is used in the production of . The high solubility of these metal complexes is attributable to the long hydrocarbon chain and the presence of a center which leads to mixtures of complexes. These metal complexes are often described as salts, when in fact they are not ionic but charge-neutral akin to the better defined, more crystalline .