Purple crystals boast first aluminium double bond

By Katrina Krämer2017-10-23T13:23:00

Molecular structure of dialumene 4 in the solid state (thermal ellipsoids drawn at the 50% probability level; H-atoms omitted for clarity

Source: Journal of the American Chemical Sciences

Aluminium analogue of an alkene completes series of double-bonded boron group elements

The first stable dialumene – a molecule with an aluminium–aluminium double bond – has been made in the form of intensely purple crystals. While double- and triple-bonded compounds of the other group 13 elements – boron, gallium, indium and thallium – are already known, the corresponding aluminium double bond has so far eluded scientists. Aluminium’s preferred oxidation state is +3; in a neutral dialumene, however, the metal would be in a +1 oxidation state.