Remarkable Room-Temperature Insertion of Carbon Monoxide into an Aluminum−Carbon Bond of Tri-tert-butylaluminum

Room-temperature reaction of carbon monoxide with tri-tert-butylaluminum at atmospheric pressure yields the dimeric tert-butylacyl complex [^tBu₂AlC(O)^tBu]₂ (1). This unprecedented CO insertion into an aluminum−carbon bond is apparently made possible by the three-coordinate aluminum center in the tri-tert-butylaluminum starting material.