Highly stable methylaluminum dimer complex with chiral tridentate ligand

The dimeric aluminum complex containing fully deprotonated 4-{[(1S,2R)-2-hydroxyindan-1-yl]amino}-pent-3-en-2-one was synthesized and characterized. X-ray analysis revealed that the two five-coordinate aluminum centers possess ideal tetragonal pyramid geometry and two methyl groups are located in cis position. It is found to be stable in the presence of isopropanol at room temperature. The compound was used as a catalyst for the ring opening polymerization of lactide accompanying lactide epimerization.