Multimetallic Synergic Sedation of a Labile Sodium Atrane: Synthesis and Characterization of a Tetranuclear Sodium Atrane Cation Complex

A series of sodium and aluminum atrane complexes of Na3L(THF)5 (1), [AlLMe][Na4L(THF)6] (2), AlL(THF) (3), AlNaLMe(THF)2 (4), and AlNaLOBn(THF)2 (5), wherein L = tris(2-oxy-4,6-di-tert-butyl-benzyl)amine, were synthesized and characterized by NMR, X-ray crystallography, and elemental analysis. The trinuclear sodium atrane complex of Na3L(THF)5 (1) is labile at room temperature; however, the tetranuclear sodium atrane cation in complex 2 can be stabilized by a multimetallic synergetic effect due to a firm interaction ring of −[Na–O–benzene]3–. Complex 2 is also the first example of a sodatrane and alumatrane ion-paired complex in which both the cationic and anionic moieties contain an atrane ligand.