Abstract
The crystal and molecular structures of the title compounds, [(CH3)2AlNH2]3 1 and [(t-C4H9)2AlNH2]3 2, have been determined in connection with their investigation as possible precursors to aluminum nitride. Both compounds have an (AlN)3 ring-structure with distorted tetrahedral geometries for the ring Al and N atoms. The distortion from tetrahedral geometry is most pronounced for the N atoms where the endocyclic Al-N-Al bond angles average 125.3 for 1 and 134.2 for 2. The (AlN)3 ring in 1 is in a skew-boat conformation with no unusual intra- or intermolecular contacts. Compound 2 on the other hand exhibits an unprecedented planar (AlN)3 ring as required by a crystallographic three-fold symmetry axis. The effects of the Al and N substituents on the (AlN)3 ring size and conformation, as well as on the endocyclic Al-N-Al bond angles, are discussed in the context of the structural results obtained for these and other (AlN)n ring compounds.