Isoelectronic Aluminium Analogues of Carbonyl and Dioxirane Moieties.

We report the anion [Al(NONAr )(Se)]- (NONAr =[O(SiMe2 NAr)2 ]2- , Ar=2,6-iPr2 C6 H3 ), which is an isoelectronic Group 13 metal analogue of the carbonyl group containing an aluminium-selenium multiple bond. It was synthesized in a single step from the reaction of the aluminyl anion [Al(NONAr )]- with elemental selenium. Spectroscopic, crystallographic, and computational analysis confirmed multiple bonding between aluminium and selenium. Addition of a second equivalent of selenium afforded the diselenirane, [Al(NONAr )(κ2 -Se2 )]- , which is an isoelectronic analogue of the dioxirane group.