Synthesis of aluminum alkoxide and bis-alkoxide compounds containing bidentate pyrrolyl ligands

A series of aluminum alkoxide and bis-alkoxides compounds were synthesized and characterized. Reacting 1 with 1 and 2 equiv. of t-butanol in methylene chloride generates [C₄H₃N(CH₂NMe₂)-2]₂Al(O-t-Bu) (2) and [C₄H₃N(CH₂NMe₂)-2-H-C₄H₃N(CH₂NMe₂)-2]Al(O-t-Bu)₂ (3) in 47% and 54% yield, respectively. The ¹H NMR spectrum of 2 exhibits two singlets for NMe₂ and CH₂N at δ 2.52 and 3.84, respectively, representing the symmetrical manner of molecular structure 2 in a solution. Compound 3 is not thermal stable in solution which decompose into substituted pyrrole ligand C₄H₄N(CH₂NMe₂)-2 and unknown aluminum alkoxides. Reacting 1 with 2 equiv. of triphenylsilanol in methylene chloride generates a tetra-coordinated aluminum "ate" compound [C₄H₃N(CH₂NMe₂)-2-H- C₄H₃N(CH₂NMe₂)-2]Al(OSiPh₃)₂ (4) in 49% yield. The ¹H NMR spectra of 4 at room temperature show a broad signal at δ 1.57 for NMe₂ fragments and the signals for CH₂N were not observed. VT ¹H NMR spectra of 4 show the NMe₂ fragments became two singlets (δ 1.27 and 2.12) and the CH₂N exhibited two doublets (δ 2.44 and 3.56) at 240 K. The fluxional energy barrier (ΔG^‡) is estimated at ca. 50 kJ/mol. The molecular structures of compounds 3 and 4 are determined by single-crystal X-ray diffractometer.