Luminescent Alkylaluminium Anthranilates Reaching Unity Quantum Yield in the Condensed Phase

Abstract Transition, post‐transition and rare earth metal complexes supported by (O,N) ‐ and (N,N) ‐type ligands dominate organometallic photochemistry. However, despite a vast number of aminobenzoate metal complexes having been reported, and aluminium being globally abundant, alkylaluminium anthranilates have not yet been considered as effective luminophores. Herein, using a family of commercially available ligands composed of anthranilic acid ( anth ‐H 2 ) and its N ‐substituted derivatives, we report the isolation and characterisation of a series of unique tetrameric chiral‐at‐metal alkylaluminium anthranilates, [(R'‐ anth )AlR] 4 . The resulting compounds are characterised using spectroscopic methods and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction to analyse structure‐determining factors in the solid state and solution. Moreover, by changing the N ‐substituents from H to Me and Ph, we have yielded a series of luminophores that exhibit poor‐to‐excellent performance, providing a [(Ph‐ anth )AlEt] 4 derivative that achieves a unity photoluminescence quantum yield in the condensed phase, which is unprecedented for aluminium complexes.