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.