Ambiphilic Al-Cu Bonding

Abstract

Copper-alumanyl complexes, [LCu-Al(SiN^Dipp )], where L=carbene=NHC^iPr (N,N'-diisopropyl-4,5-dimethyl-2-ylidene) and ^Me2 CAAC (1-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-3,3,5,5-tetramethyl-pyrrolidin-2-ylidene) and featuring unsupported Al-Cu bonds, have been prepared. Divergent reactivity observed with carbodiimides and CO₂ implies an ambiphilicity in the Cu-Al interaction that is dependent on the identity of the carbene co-ligand.

Keywords: aluminum; coordination modes; copper; ligand effects; metal-metal interactions.