Dialane with a redox-active bis-amido ligand: unique reactivity towards alkynes

The treatment of 1,2-bis[(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imino]acenaphthene (dpp-bian) with one equivalent of AlCl(3) and three equivalents of sodium in toluene at 110 °C produced a stable dialane, (dpp-bian)Al-Al(dpp-bian) (1). The reaction of compound 1 with pyridine gave Lewis-acid-base adduct (dpp-bian)(Py)Al-Al(Py)(dpp-bian) (2). Acetylene and phenylacetylene reacted with compound 1 to give cycloaddition products [dpp-bian(R(1)R(2))]Al-Al[(R(2)R(1))dpp-bian] (3: R(1)=R(2)=CH; 4: R(1)=CH, R(2)=CPh). These addition reactions occur across Al-N-C moieties and result in the formation of new C-C and C-Al bonds. At elevated temperatures, compound 4 rearranges into complex 5, which consists of a radical-anionic dpp-bian ligand and two bridging alken-1,2-diyl moieties, (dpp-bian)Al(HCCPh)(2)Al(dpp-bian). This transformation is accompanied by cleavage of the dpp-bian-ligand-alkyne C-C bond, as well as of the Al-Al bond. In contrast to its analogous gallium complex, compound 1 is reactive towards internal alkynes. In the reaction of compound 1 with PhC≡CMe, besides symmetrical addition product [dpp-bian(R(1)R(2))]Al-Al[(R(2)R(1))dpp-bian] (R(1)=CMe, R(2)=CPh; 6), monoadduct [dpp-bian(R(1)R(2))]Al-Al(dpp-bian) (R(1)=CMe, R(2)=CPh; 7) was also isolated. Complexes 1-7 were characterized by IR, (1)H NMR (1-4), and electronic absorption spectroscopy (3-5); the molecular structures of compounds 1-7 were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.