Lewis base complexes of AlH3: structural determination of monomeric and polymeric adducts by X-ray crystallography and DFT calculations.

The AlH3 adducts of TMEDA (Me2NCH2CH2NMe2), DIOX (O(CH2CH2)2O), TEA (Et3N), BDMA (PhNMe2), and TMPDA (Me2NCH2CH2CH2NMe2) have each been characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction at low temperature, by (1)H, (14)N and (27)Al NMR and FT-Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy, and by DFT calculations and elemental analysis. Hence, AlH3·TMEDA and AlH3·DIOX are both shown to adopt a polymeric structure, with the bidentate ligand bridging two Al centres, each of which adopts a trigonal bipyramidal (TBP) arrangement with equatorial hydride moieties. The 1 : 2 adduct AlH3·2BDMA is monomeric but the geometry at the Al centre resembles closely that of the polymeric TMEDA and DIOX complexes. AlH3·TEA alone adopts a monomeric structure in which the Al centre is tetrahedrally coordinated by three hydride and one amine ligand. The Al-L bond distance of 2.0240(17) Å for AlH3·TEA is the shortest of all the complexes in this study, and AlH3·TEA also possesses the shortest Al-H bonds. AlH3·DIOX has the shortest Al-L bond distance of the polymeric species (2.107(14) Å) on account of the higher electronegativity of the oxygen donor. The structure of AlH3·TMEDA was determined at low temperature (monoclinic space group P2(1)/c), and salient features are compared to the previous room temperature study, for which a highly disordered orthorhombic space group (P2(1)2(1)2(1)) was reported. The polymeric structures appear to be stabilised by a number of intermolecular interactions and unconventional hydrogen bonds; these are most pronounced for AlH3·DIOX, whose chains are connected by highly directional C-H···H-Al bonding with an H···H distance of 2.32(6) Å.

Lewis base complexes of AlH3: prediction of preferred structure and stoichiometry.

The structures adopted by a range of complexes AlH3·nL, (n = 1 or 2), have been explored in detail to identify the factors that determine the value of n, and whether a monomeric or dimeric arrangement is preferred for the 1 : 1 complexes. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction, vibrational and NMR spectroscopies, and thermal analysis data have been collected, DFT calculations have been performed for AlH3·nL species, and pK(a) values have been collated for a series of amine and phosphine ligands L. The pK(a) of the ligand L exerts an important influence on the type of complex formed: as the basicity of L increases, a monomeric structure is favoured over a dimeric arrangement. Dimeric amine complexes form if pK(a) < 9.76, while monomeric complexes are preferred when pK(a) > 9.99. The steric requirements of L also influence the structural preference: bulky ligands with large cone angles (>163°) tend to favour formation of monomers, while smaller cone angles (<125°) encourage the formation of dimeric or 1 : 2 adducts. The steric bulk of the ligand appears to be more important for phosphine complexes, with smaller phosphines being unable to stabilise the complex at ambient temperatures even through dimerisation. Raman spectroscopy and DFT calculations have been particularly helpful in elucidating the stoichiometric preferences of complexes that have been contentious; these include AlH3·NMe2Et, AlH3·NMe3 and AlH3·nEt2O.