Aluminium-mediated carbon-carbon coupling of an isonitrile.

Abstract

Cp*Al reacts with diphenylacetylene to form a Cp*-substituted 1,4-dialuminacyclohexene. The dialuminacyclohexene reacts with four equivalents of an isonitrile to couple the terminal carbon atoms, forming 6 new carbon-carbon bonds and resulting in a zwitterionic diamide ligand which contains a carbocationic backbone.