Author: ["Simon J. Bonyhady","David Collis","Gernot Frenking","Nicole Holzmann","Cameron Jones","Andreas Stasch"]
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Abstract
The desorption of dihydrogen from magnesium(II) hydride, MgH2 (containing 7.6 wt% H), is reversible. MgH2 therefore holds promise as a hydrogen storage material in devices powered by fuel cells. We believed that dimeric magnesium(I) dimers (LMgMgL, L = β-diketiminate) could find use as soluble models to aid the study of the mechanisms and/or kinetics of the hydrogenation of magnesium and its alloys. Here, we show that LMgMgL can be readily hydrogenated to yield LMg(µ-H)2MgL by treatment with aluminium(III) hydride complexes. In one case, hydrogenation was reversed by treating LMg(µ-H)2MgL with potassium metal. The hydrogenation by-products are the first thermally stable, neutral aluminium(II) hydride complexes to be produced, one of which, [{(IPr)(H)2Al}2] (IPr = :C[{(C6H3-i-Pr2-2,6)NCH}2]), is an N-heterocyclic carbene adduct of the elusive parent dialane(4) (Al2H4). A computational analysis of this compound is presented. Magnesium hydride is a potential hydrogen-storage material, but its use is hampered by its high stability and slow hydrogen sorption processes. Dimeric magnesium compounds can act as models for these materials, and it is now shown that they can be easily and reversibly hydrogenated across the magnesium–magnesium bond. Cite this article
Bonyhady, S., Collis, D., Frenking, G. et al. Synthesis of a stable adduct of dialane(4) (Al2H4) via hydrogenation of a magnesium(I) dimer. Nature Chem 2, 865–869 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.762 