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Careful analysis of the crystals formed in the reduction of AriPr8AlI2 (AriPr8=C6H-2,6-(C6H2-2,4,6-iPr3)2-3,5-iPr2) with sodium on sodium chloride showed them to contain the long sought-after dialuminene AriPr8AlAlAriPr8 (1) that forms alongside the previously characterized alanediyl :AlAriPr8. The single crystal X-ray structure of 1 revealed a nearly planar, trans-bent C(ipso)AlAlC(ipso) core with an Al-Al distance of 2.648(2) Å. The molecular and electronic structure of 1 are consistent with an Al-Al double dative interaction augmented with diradical character and stabilized by dispersion interactions. Density functional theory calculations showed that the reactivity of :AlAriPr8 with dihydrogen involves 1, not :AlAriPr8, as the reactive species. In contrast, the reaction of :AlAriPr8 with ethylene gave two products, the 1,4-dialuminacyclohexane AriPr8Al(C2H4)2AlAriPr8 (2) and the aluminacyclopentane AriPr8Al(C4H8) (3), that can both form from the aluminacyclopropane intermediate AriPr8Al(C2H4). Although the [2+2+2] cycloaddition of 1 with two equivalents of ethylene was also calculated to be exergonic, it is likely to be kinetically blocked by the numerous isopropyl substituents surrounding the Al-Al bond. Attempts to fine-tune the steric bulk of the terphenyl ligand to allow stronger Al-Al bonding were unsuccessful, leading to the isolation of the sodium salt of a cyclotrialuminene, Na2[AlAriPr6]3 (4), instead of AriPr6AlAlAriPr6.

The 6-31 G* and 6-31 G·· basis sets previously introduced for first-row atoms have been extended through thesecond-row of the periodic table. Equilibrium geometries for one-heavy-atom hydrides calculated for the twobasissets and using Hartree-Fock wave functions are in good agreement both with each other and with theexperimental data. HF/6-31G· structures, obtained for two-heavy-atom hydrides and for a variety ofhypervalent second-row molecules, are also in excellent accord with experimental equilibrium geometries. Nolarge deviations between calculated and experimental single bond lengths have been noted, in contrast toprevious work on analogous first-row compounds, where limiting Hartree-Fock distances were in error by upto a tenth of an angstrom. Equilibrium geometries calculated at the HF /6-31 G level are consistently in betteragreement with the experimental data than are those previously obtained using the simple split-valance 3-21Gbasis set for both normal- and hypervalent compounds. Normal-mode vibrational frequencies derived from 6-31G· level calculations are consistently larger than the corresponding experimental values, typically by\0%-15%; they are of much more uniform quality than those obtained from the 3-21G basis set.Hydrogenation energies calculated for normal- and hypervalent compounds are in moderate accord withexperimental data, although in some instances large errors appear. Calculated energies relating to thestabilities of single and multiple bonds are in much better accord with the experimental energy differences.