Triisobutylaluminum reacts with silica yielding three different Al sites according to high-field aluminum-27 NMR and first principle calculations: a quadruply grafted dimeric surface species and two incorporated Al(O)x species (x = 4 or 5). This result is in stark contrast to the bis-grafted species that forms during Et3Al silica grafting. Thus the isobutyl ligands, which render R3Al monomeric, lead to greater reactivity towards the silica surface.

Triisobutylaluminum is more reactive towards silica surfaces than triethyl or trimethylaluminum, yielding three different Al sites and greater reactivity than Et3Al.

Paper

Triisobutylaluminum: bulkier and yet more reactive towards silica surfaces than triethyl or trimethylaluminum.

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