Efficient Synthesis of an Aluminum Amidoborane Ammoniate
Junzhi Yang,
Paul R. Beaumont,
Terry D. Humphries,
Craig M. Jensen,
Xingguo Li
Affiliations
Junzhi Yang
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), the State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Paul R. Beaumont
Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2545 McCarthy Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822-2275, USA
Terry D. Humphries
Hydrogen Storage Research Group, Fuels and Energy Technology Institute, Department of Physics, Astronomy and Medical Radiation Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
Craig M. Jensen
Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2545 McCarthy Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822-2275, USA
Xingguo Li
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), the State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
A novel species of metal amidoborane ammoniate, [Al(NH2BH3)63−][Al(NH3)63+] has been successfully synthesized in up to 95% via the one-step reaction of AlH3·OEt2 with liquid NH3BH3·nNH3 (n = 1~6) at 0 °C. This solution based reaction method provides an alternative pathway to the traditional mechano-chemical ball milling methods, avoiding possible decomposition. MAS 27Al NMR spectroscopy confirms the formulation of the compound as an Al(NH2BH3)63− complex anion and an Al(NH3)63+ cation. Initial dehydrogenation studies of this aluminum based M-N-B-H compound demonstrate that hydrogen is released at temperatures as low as 65 °C, totaling ~8.6 equivalents of H2 (10.3 wt %) upon heating to 105 °C. This method of synthesis offers a promising route towards the large scale production of metal amidoborane ammoniate moieties.
