Titanium amino alcohol complexes from alpha-titanic acid: X-ray crystal structure of titanium bis[2,2 '-(methylimino)diethanolate]

A method for producing amino alcohol complexes of titanium from hydrated ti tania (alpha-titanic acid) is described. Thus hydrated titania was complete ly converted into triethanolamine and diethanolamine complexes during react ion at 120 degrees C for 6 h. This represents a synthetic method for titani um sol-gel precursors which are free from chlorine-containing impurities. P roducts were characterized with assistance from H-1 and C-13 nuclear magnet ic resonance spectroscopy, and electrospray mass spectrometry. A single-cry stal X-ray structure of titanium bis[2,2'-(methylimino)ethanolate], tetrago nal, space group <P(4)over bar>2(1)c, is presented. The titanium centre is coordinated by an N2O4 donor set which can be most closely described as a b ifacially capped tetrahedral geometry.