Talk:Organoaluminium chemistry

Preparation

In the part on the preparation of the compounds the next statement is made:

Industrially, simple aluminium alkyls (Me, Et) can be prepared by alkylation of aluminium powder:
    2 Al + 3 CH3Cl → (CH3)3Al2Cl3

The compound (CH3)3Al2Cl3 is called a sesquichlorides because on average, each Al centre has 1.5 chloride. These mixed halides can be converted to the triorganoaluminium derivatives by thermal redistribution:
   (CH3)3Al2Cl3 + 3 Na → (CH3)6Al2 + 3 NaCl 

To me in the second reactien tree methylgroups apear out of the sky. Who solves the problem? T.vanschaik (talk) 22:01, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

It should read (according to the cited reference, Ullmann's):

2R₃Al₂Cl₃ + 3Na → 3R₂AlCl + Al + 3NaCl

3R₂AlCl + 3Na → 2R₃Al + Al + 3NaCl

Overall, this becomes:

2R₃Al₂Cl₃ + 6Na → 2R₃Al + 2Al + 6NaCl

This can be simplified to:

R₃Al₂Cl₃ + 3Na → R₃Al + Al + 3NaCl

If you want it to reflect the fact that many R₃Al compounds are dimers, you can put a half in:

R₃Al₂Cl₃ + 3Na → ½R₆Al₂ + Al + 3NaCl

Or you can double everything else:

2R₃Al₂Cl₃ + 6Na → R₆Al₂ + 2Al + 6NaCl

Ben (talk) 23:39, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

Carboalumination chemistry

One might quibble about which sources to cite regarding this chemistry, but the deletion of the zirconocene catalyzed process is unjustifiable. This is a reaction taught in first-year graduate courses in total synthesis, and it has been used hundreds of times for natural product total synthesis since the 1980s when this reaction was discovered. Efforts to use the thus produced organoaluminum reagents also contributed to the subsequent Nobel prize winning development of sp2-sp2 cross-coupling by Negishi and others.

I have no personal stake in this, other than ensuring that Wikipedia covers in an unbiased manner. This reaction may not seem important to the coordination chemist, but it is parochial to consider that as the only legitimate POV.

I would be happy argue this case further or to discuss which particular sentences to keep or discard.

Ymwang42 (talk) 01:22, 30 July 2016 (UTC)

If the method is so important, then find a review that discusses it. The WP:SECONDARY pathway is not only in the Wikipedia mindset, it provided editors a way to verify WP:NOTABILITY. Readers of Wikipedia do not consult Wikipedia to glean details, they are here to get an overviews. Blogs and real journals are excellent venues for the details. --Smokefoot (talk) 13:08, 30 July 2016 (UTC)

Confusing valency and oxidation state

The section "Low valent organoaluminium compounds" should be called "Low oxidation state organoaluminium compounds". Valency and oxidation state is not the same. The valency of aluminium in tetraalkyldialane R₂Al—AlR₂ is 3, but its oxidation state is 2. The valency of aluminium in tetracyclopentadienyltetraalane tetrahedrane (CpAl)₄ is 3, but its oxidation state is 1. Bernardirfan (talk) 10:52, 7 July 2020 (UTC)