Syntheses and reactions of tetrazole-group 13 complexes

The combination of 5-phenyl-1-H-tetrazole (let) with AlR₃ in stoichiometries of 1-3 leads to the compounds [(tet)AlR₂]_n R=Me (1), Et (2), ⁱBu (3), [(tet)₂AlMe]_n (4), and [(tet)₃Al]_n (5). The addition of pyridine to 1 leads to a soluble compound with the formulation, [(tet)AlMe₂-pyridine]_n (6). Likewise the addition of AlMe₃ to 1 and 4 leads to the products [(tet)AlMe₂-AlMe₃]₂ (7) and [(tet)₂AlMe-AlMe₃]_n (8). The compounds were characterized by standard techniques and, in the case of 7 by X-ray crystallography. Compounds 1, 4 and 5 were examined (unsuccessfully) as potential unimolecular precursors to aluminum nitride.