Synthesis, characterization and crystal structure of a 2-(di­ethylamino­methyl)indole ligated di­methyl­aluminium complex

The title compound, [Al(CH3)2(C13H17N2)] (systematic name; {2-[(di­ethyl­amino)­meth­yl]indol-1-yl-κ2N,N′}di­methyl­aluminium), was prepared by methane elimination from the reaction of 2-(di­ethyl­amino­meth­yl)indole and tri­methyl­aluminium. The complex crystallizes readily from a concentrated toluene solution in high yield. The asymmetric unit contains two crystallographically independent mol­ecules. Each mol­ecule has a four-coordinate aluminium atom that has pseudo-tetra­hedral geometry. C—H⋯π inter­actions link the independent mol­ecules into chains extending along the b-axis direction.