Aluminum Solvate Complexes Forming in Acidic Methanol-Acetone Mixtures Studied by 27Al NMR Spectroscopy

27Al NMR spectroscopy is a powerful tool for the study of coordination and solvation in both aqueous and nonaqueous solutions. In this study, the complexes coexisting upon dissolution of AlCl3 in acidic acetone + methanol solutions are shown to consist essentially of mixed hexacoordinated species of the general formula [Al(CH3OH)6−n(CH3COCH3)n]3+ (n=1,2 and 3), all exhibiting distinctly different 27Al shielding effects. The relative populations of the various mixed species are found to be highly dependent upon the acetone:methanol mole ratio that in the more acetone-rich mixtures with aluminum become appreciably coordinated by acetone. The results demonstrate that the key factor for the formation of acetone-containing species in acidic methanolic solutions is having the CH3COCH3:CH3OH mole ratio at 3:1.