Divergent reduction chemistry of NHC-aluminium(III) hydrides

Understanding and controlling facile reduction chemistry is a key challenge in molecular main group chemistry. Herein, we report the divergent reduction chemistry of aluminium(III) hydrides supported by N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). Choice of reducing agent and NHC ligand are key, with Al(II) dialanes, Al(II) cations, asymmetric Al(II) dialanes and ligand exchange reactions all identified via NMR and single crystal X-ray diffraction.