Carbodiimide insertion into organoaluminum compounds and thermal rearrangement of the products

A series of carbodiimide insertion products were prepared using various aluminum reagents (viz., AlR3 (R = Me, Et), AlX2Y (X = Cl, R; Y = Cl, NR2')) and 1,3-diisopropyl- and 1,3-di-tert-butylcarbodiimides in various stoichiometric ratios. The resulting products 1-20 were isolated either as colorless liquids or as solids. These compounds were characterized by H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, IR, and mass spectral data. Elemental analysis data for some of the representative compounds were obtained. The crystal structures of two of the compounds (compounds 8 " and 10) were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The competitive migration of the alkyl, chloro, or amino group attached to the aluminum atom onto the carbon of the carbodiimide is also reported.