Preparation of Aluminum Hydrides with Chelating Anilido-Imine Ligands by Addition of an Al-H Bond to a C=N Bond

Reacting o-C6H4F(CH = NC(6)H(3)iPr(2)-2,6) (L) with H3AlNMe3 resulted in the aluminum dihydride with coordinated NMe3 of composition [o-C6H4F(CH(2)NC(6)H(3)iPr(2)-2,6)]AlH2(NMe3)(1). Furthermore, the aluminum monohydride [o-C6H4N(C(6)H(3)iPr(2)-2,6)(CH(2)NC(6)H(3)iPr(2)-2,6)]AlH(NMe3) (2) was prepared by treatment of the anilido-imine ligand o-C6H4N(C(6)H(3)iPr(2)-2,6)(CH = NC(6)H(3)iPr(2)-2,6) (L ) with H3AlNMe3 in high yield. The formations of the two complexes both involve aluminum hydride addition to the C=N double bond. Compounds 1 and 2 were characterized by H-1 NMR and IR spectroscopic, elementary analysis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies.