Nicolas Mézailles

A DFT study of several L→Al(OR F ) 3 (L=Lewis bases) adducts allowed the identification of ( i Pr 2 S)→Al(OR F ) 3 1 ‐ S i Pr 2 as a “stable yet reactive” adduct. 1 ‐ S i Pr 2 was shown to act as a masked Lewis superacid able to release Al(OR F ) 3 under mild conditions. It could be used to abstract a OR F− ligand from (bipyMe 2 )Ni(OR F ) 2 (bipyMe 2 : 6,6’‐dimethyl‐2,2’‐dipyridyl) and generate the nickel alkoxide complex [(bipyMe 2 )Ni(OR F )( i Pr 2 S)] + [(R F O) 3 Al−F−Al(OR F ) 3 ] − 5 . Ligand exchange of i Pr 2 S by Ph 3 P yielded [(bipyMe 2 )Ni(OR F )(PPh 3 )] + [(R F O) 3 Al−F−Al(OR F ) 3 ] − 6 .