Ligand-tetrahydrofuran coupling in chelated aluminum phosphinates

When the reagents LAlMe (L = N,N'-(alkylene or arylene)bis(3,5-di-tert-butyl)salicylideneimine (alkylene = ethylene (Salen(tBu))(1), propylene (Salpen(tBu))(2), and butylene (Salben(tBu)) (3); arylene = phenylene (Salophen(tBu) (4), 3,4-dimethylphenylene (Salomphen(tBu) (5)) are combined with Ph(H)P(O)OH in tetrahydrofuran (thf) the unique aluminophosphinate compounds, [L(tBu)Al[O(2)P(H)Ph]](n) with L, n = Salen,(infinity)(6), Salpen, 2 (7), Salben, 2 (8), Salophen, (infinity)(9) and Salomphen, (infinity)(10) are produced. The yields for the latter two reactions are low, and it was subsequently found that the unique thf-coupled compounds appear in the thf filtrates of the original reaction mixture. These compounds are, [L-thf(tBu)Al[O(2)P(H)Ph]](2), L = Salophen (13) and Salomphen (14). The thf connects through an alpha-carbon to only one of the two possible imine carbons of the ligand. While trying to determine how this coupling proceeds, the six-coordinate, solution-state species LAlMe(thf) (L = Salophen (11) and Salomphen (12) were discovered and implicated as intermediates. All of the compounds are characterized by melting point, NMR, IR, and X-ray analyses for 5-8, 13, and 14. A possible mechanism for the thf coupling event is presented.