N-Donor Adducts of Dimethylzinc

SUBMITTED BY ANTHONY C. JONES, PAUL O BRIEN, and JOHN R. WALSH  

CHECKED BY BRIDGETT KILLION, JOHN CANBELL, STEPHEN SKOOG, and WAYNE GLADFELTER  

Traditionally, the adducts have been prepared by adding stoichiometric amounts of the ligand to a solution of dimethylzinc (in diethyl ether or petroleum spirit) followed by removal of the solvent in vacuo. The compounds presented here were synthesized by direct reaction of the ligand and the electronic grade metal alkyl in the absence of any solvent. 

Triethylamine (2.60 mL, 18.7 mmol, Aldrich) is added from a calibrated syringe via a septum cap to dimethylzinc (1.78 g, 18.7 mmol) at — 196°C and the reaction mixture is allowed to warm to room temperature to give a crude yellow liquid which is then vacuum distilled (40°C, 10 torr) to give a colorless liquid. The yield on distillation is 3.78 g, 86.4%. 

The compound has been used on several occasions to grow extremely high-quality ZnSe by conventional, atmospheric pressure or low-pressure MOCVD. 

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