A series of aluminum complexes supported by
o-phenylene-derived amido phosphine ligands,
N-(2-diphenylphosphinophenyl)-2,6-dimethylanilide ([Me-NP]
-) and
N-(2-diphenylphosphinophenyl)-2,6-diisopropylanilide ([
iPr-NP]
-),have been prepared. The reactions of trialkylaluminum with H[Me-NP] and H[
iPr-NP], respectively, in refluxingtoluene produced the corresponding dialkyl complexes [Me-NP]AlR
2 and [
iPr-NP]AlR
2 (R = Me, Et). Deprotonationof H[Me-NP] with
n-BuLi in THF at -35
C followed by addition of AlCl
3 in toluene at -35
C afforded [Me-NP]AlCl
2, which was subsequently reacted with 2 equiv of trimethylsilylmethyllithium in toluene to give [Me-NP]Al(CH
2SiMe
3)
2. The aluminum complexes were all characterized by
1H,
13C,
31P, and
27Al NMR spectroscopy. The solid-state structures of monomeric, four-coordinate [Me-NP]AlEt
2 and [
iPr-NP]AlMe
2 and five-coordinate [Me-NP]AlCl
2(THF)were determined by X-ray crystallography. The
1H NMR studies of [Me-NP]AlEt
2, [Me-NP]Al(CH
2SiMe
3)
2, and[
iPr-NP]AlEt
2 indicate diastereotopic
-hydrogen atoms in these molecules. Heteronuclear COSY and NOEexperiments suggest that the phosphorus donor in [Me-NP]Al(CH
2SiMe
3)
2 and [
iPr-NP]AlEt
2 is coupled to only oneof the diastereotopic
-hydrogen atoms that is virtually antiperiplanar with respect to the phosphorus atom.