Ambient temperature hydrogen desorption from LiAlH4–LiNH2 mediated by HMPA

By adding a small amount of HMPA approximately 2.5 equivalent or ca. 8.1 wt% H2 can be released from the LiAlH4–LiNH2 mixture at ambient temperature, which is ∼370 °C lower than the corresponding solid-state dehydrogenation. NMR characterizations reveal the formation of intermediates, such as [AlH] and [AlN] species, during the dehydrogenation. LiNH2 induces the enrichment of [AlH] species in the liquid phase which further reacts with LiNH2 to produce H2, Li2NH and Al.