Bis-Silylene-Supported Aluminium Atoms with Aluminylene and Alane Character
The suitability of electron-rich bis-silylenes, specifically the neutral chelating [SiII(Xant)SiII] ligand (SiII = PhC(NtBu)2Si, Xant = 9,9dimethylxanthene) and the anionic [SiII(NAcrid)SiII)]‒ pincer ligand (NAcrid = 2,7,9,9-tetramethylacridane), has been successfully probed to stabilize monovalent bis-silylene-supported aluminium complexes (aluminylenes). At first, the unprecedented aluminium(III) iodide precursors [SiII(Xant)SiII]AlI2+ I‒ 1 and [SiII(NAcrid)SiII)]AlI2 2 were synthesized using AlI3 and [SiII(Xant)SiII] or [SiII(NAcrid)SiII)]Li(OEt2)], respectively, and structurally characterized. While reduction of 1 with KC8 led merely to unidentified products, the dehalogenation of 2 afforded the dimer of the desired {[SiII(NAcrid)SiII)]Al:} aluminylene with a four-membered SiIV2AlIII2 ring. Remarkably, the proposed aluminylene intermediates [SiII(Xant)SiII]AlII and {[SiII(NAcrid)SiII)]Al:} could be produced through reduction of 1 and 2 with Collman’s reagent, K2Fe(CO)4, and trapped as AlI:→Fe(CO)4 complexes 5 and 6 , respectively. While6is stable in solution,5loses one CO ligand in solution to afford the silylene- and aluminylene-coordinated iron(0) complex7. The electronic structures of the novel compounds were investigated by Density Functional Theory calculations.