The hetero-cubane structures of the heavy alkali metal tert-amyloxides [MOCMe2Et]4 (M = K, Rb, Cs)

Abstract

A series of alkali metal (Li–Cs) alkoxides of tert-pentanol (1,1-dimethylpropan-1-ol) have been prepared by reaction of the corresponding metal with the alcohol in n-hexane or n-heptane. The compounds were purified by vacuum sublimation and crystallised in n-hexane to produce crystals suitable for single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The structures of the potassium, rubidium, and caesium compounds revealed tetrameric units with additional intra- and intermolecular interactions between the metal atom and alkoxide methyl groups, increasing with the size of the metal involved.