Behavior of M[Al2Me6N3] (M=K,Rb, Cs) with aromatic solvents and the crystal structures of Cs[Al2Me6N3]·2p-xylene and [K·dibenzo-18-crown-6] [Al2Me6N3]· 1.5(1-methylnaphthalene)

The title compounds were synthesized by the addition of AlMe₃ to the corresponding azide suspended in an aromatic solvent. Both products were obtained as air-sensitive colorless crystals. Cs[Al₂Me₆N₃]·2p-xylene crystallizes in the monoclinic space groupC2/m witha=19.143(6),b=16.227(6),c=10.392(5) Å, =114.06(2)^o, and _calc = 1.20 g cm^–3 forZ=4. Refinement led to a conventionalR value of 0.037 for 2179 observed reflections. The cesium atom resides on a mirror plane, and the anion is disordered about a twofold axis. Thep-xylene molecules sandwich the cesium ion.[K·dibenzo-18-crown-6] [Al_Me6N₃]·1.5(1-methylnaphthalene) crystallizes in the monoclinic space groupP2₁/c witha=14.176(5),b=13.021(5),c=25.324(8) Å, =98.23(4)⁰, and _calc = 1.08 g cm^–3 forZ=4. The finalR value was 0.132 for 1402 observed reflections. One of the 1-methylnaphthalene molecules is disordered about a center of inversion and interacts with the potassium ion. The other solvent molecule is found roughly in layers in the lattice and also exhibits disorder of the methyl substituent. For both title compounds the AlMe₃ groups of the anion exhibit a staggered (C_s) conformation.Supplementary Data relating to this article are deposited with the British Library as Supplementary Publication No. SUP 82015 (32 pages).