One-pot solvothermal synthesis of a well-ordered layered sodium aluminoalcoholate complex: a useful precursor for the preparation of porous Al[subscript 2]O[subscript 3] particles

One-pot solvothermal synthesis of a robust tetranuclear sodium hexakis(glycolato)tris(methanolato)aluminate complex Na[subscript 3][Al[subscript 4](OCH[subscript 3])[subscript 3](OCH[subscript 2]CH[subscript 2]O)[subscript 6]] via a modified yet rigorous base-catalyzed transesterification mechanism...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li, Xiansen, Michaelis, Vladimir K., Ong, Ta-Chung, Smith, Stacey J., McKay, Ian, Griffin, Robert Guy, Wang, Evelyn, Mueller, Peter
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Royal Society of Chemistry, The 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95975
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1589-832X
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6708-7660
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7045-1200
Description
Summary:One-pot solvothermal synthesis of a robust tetranuclear sodium hexakis(glycolato)tris(methanolato)aluminate complex Na[subscript 3][Al[subscript 4](OCH[subscript 3])[subscript 3](OCH[subscript 2]CH[subscript 2]O)[subscript 6]] via a modified yet rigorous base-catalyzed transesterification mechanism is presented here. Single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) studies indicate that this unique Al complex contains three pentacoordinate Al[superscript 3+] ions, each bound to two bidentate ethylene glycolate chelators and one monodentate methanolate ligand. The remaining fourth Al[superscript 3+] ion is octahedrally coordinated to one oxygen atom from each of the six surrounding glycolate chelators, effectively stitching the three pentacoordinate Al moieties together into a novel tetranuclear Al complex. This aluminate complex is periodically self-assembled into well-ordered layers normal to the [110] axis with the intra-/inter-layer bonding involving extensive ionic bonds from the three charge-counterbalancing Na[superscript +] cations rather than the more typical hydrogen bonding interactions as a result of fewer free hydroxyl groups present in its structure. It can also serve as a valuable precursor toward the facile synthesis of high-surface-area alumina powders using a very efficient rapid pyrolysis technique.