The aluminum alkyl halides are flammable, reactive, and may be spontaneously combustible in air. They are colorless to yellow liquids. Ethylaluminum dichloride:(563-43-9):
Ethylaluminum sesquichloride (26.5 kg) added to a nitrogen-purged reactor, was heated to 175 ℃. Then, while the mixture was stirred vigorously, 1.1 kg sodium was added over a 30 min period; the mixture was further heated at 155 – 190 ℃ for 60 min. The diethylaluminum chloride product distilled from the reactor at 100 – 161 ℃ (1.3 – 6.1 kPa). In this example, an excess of ethylaluminum sesquichloride was employed to facilitate draining the voluminous byproduct salt and aluminum solids from the reactor. In an alternate approach, a heavy hydrocarbon oil, added prior to reaction, may be employed to remove the solids in slurry form, permitting the use of a stoichiometric ratio of ethylaluminum sesquichloride and sodium reactants.
Colorless liquid. Dangerous fire and explosion hazard. Used as an intermediate in production of organometallics.
Pyrophoric in air [Hawley]. Reacts violently with water, Rose(1961).
Organometallics, such as DIETHYLALUMINUM CHLORIDE, are reactive with many other groups. Incompatible with acids and bases. Organometallics are good reducing agents and therefore incompatible with oxidizing agents. Often reactive with water to generate toxic or flammable gases. Organometallics containing halogens (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine) bonded to the metal typically with generate gaseous hydrohalic acids (HF, HCl, HBr, HI) with water.
These materials are used as components of olefin polymerization catalysts. The reader is referred to the entry on “Aluminum alkyls” for additional information on this entry. The aluminum alkyl halides parallel very closely the aluminum alkyls
UN3052 Spontaneously combustible. Water reactive releasing large quantities of toxic and deadly hydrogen gas. (Note: this number does not appear in the 49/CFR HazMat tables)
Distil it from excess dry NaCl (to remove ethyl aluminium dichloride) in a 50-cm column containing a heated nichrome spiral. [Beilstein 4 IV 4403.]
The aluminum alkyl halides are strong reducing agents; they react—possibly violently—with oxidizers (chlorates, nitrates, peroxides, permanganates, perchlorates, chlorine, bromine, fluorine, etc.); contact may cause fires or explosions. Keep away from alkaline materials, strong bases, strong acids, oxoacids, epoxides. These chemicals react violently with nitromethaneEthylaluminum sesquichloride reacts explosively with carbon tetrachloride at room temperature. This chemical reacts violently with water, forming corrosive hydrogen chloride and flammable ethane gas. Diethylaluminum chloride may form an explosive product with chlorine azide.
