Addition Reactions of Me3 SiCN with Aldehydes Catalyzed by Aluminum Complexes Containing in their Coordination Sphere O, S, and N Ligands.

The reaction of one equivalent of LAlH2 (1; L=HC(CMeNAr)2 , Ar=2,6-iPr2 C6 H3 , ß-diketiminate ligand) with two equivalents of 2-mercapto-4,6-dimethylpyrimidine hydrate resulted in LAl[(µ-S)(m-C4 N2 H)(CH2 )2 ]2 (2) in good yield. Similarly, when N-2-pyridylsalicylideneamine, N-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)salicylaldimine, and ethyl 3-amino-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene-2-carboxylate were used as starting materials, the corresponding products LAl[(µ-O)(o-C6 H4 )CN(C5 NH4 )]2 (3), LAlH[(µ-O)(o-C4 H4 )CN(2,6-iPr2 C6 H3 )] (4), and LAl[(µ-NH)(o-C8 SH8 )(COOC2 H5 )]2 (5) were isolated. Compounds 2-5 were characterized by (1) H and (13) C NMR spectroscopy as well as by single-crystal X-ray structural analysis. Surprisingly, compounds 2-5 exhibit good catalytic activity in addition reactions of aldehydes with trimethylsilyl cyanide (TMSCN).