The Allure of Aluminium

in your element The allure of aluminium Daniel Rabinovich outlines the history, properties and uses of aluminium — one of the most versatile, pervasive and inexpensive metals today, yet it was considered a rare and costly element only 150 years ago. t is hard to believe that aluminium was silver, which hampered the development a common Lewis acid, is extensively applied once more expensive than gold and that, of large-scale applications and motivated in Friedel–Crafts acylation and alkylation Iin the mid-nineteenth century, Napoleon the search for an alternative and more reactions, and aluminium chlorohydrate, III used silverware made of the light metal economical preparation process. Al2Cl(OH)5, is the active ingredient in when he really wanted to impress his guests It was only in 1886 that Charles M. Hall many antiperspirants. Large quantities at stately dinners. Even though element 13 in the US and Paul L. T. Héroult in France, of methylaluminoxane, a generic name is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s almost simultaneously and completely used to describe the ill-defined mixture of crust (~8%) and is present in more than independently, devised aluminium species obtained by partial hydrolysis of 270 different minerals, its high affinity for production processes that relied on the trimethylaluminium, are employed in the oxygen and the chemical stability of its electrolysis of alumina (Al2O3) dissolved Ziegler–Natta polymerization of olefins. oxides and silicates precluded its isolation in molten cryolite (Na3AlF6). An efficient The availability of an ever-increasing in pure form for a long time. The first pure process for the extraction and purification of variety of aluminium coordination sample of aluminium was obtained in 1827 alumina from bauxite, the most important complexes has also prompted many recent by the German chemist Friedrich Wöhler, aluminium ore, was developed within a developments in the chemistry of this metal, who also began studying its fascinating couple of years by the Austrian chemist often with potential applications to catalysis physical and chemical attributes. Karl Josef Bayer, son of the founder of the and organic synthesis2. Other active areas The French chemist famous German chemical and of research range from the preparation Henri Sainte-Claire Deville pharmaceutical company, and of unusual aluminium(i) compounds, (1818–1881) developed a the ‘Hall–Héroult’ process including organometallic species3 and method of preparing larger became economically viable. metalloid clusters4, to the synthesis of quantities of aluminium in By the early 1960s element 13 Schiff base derivatives that effectively 1854, and soon published became the most widely used break down organophosphate nerve agents the first comprehensive non-ferrous metal in the world, and pesticides5. book describing its even more so than copper. The element once dubbed the magic manufacture, properties Applications of aluminium metal by National Geographic continues and emerging applications1. and its alloys range from to be a source of inspiration for scientists, The attractive properties construction and the engineers and even artists and designers6. of the newfangled metal transportation industry to the Let us remember its rich chemistry, quickly became clear, manufacture of electric power fascinating history and multifarious including low density, lines, packaging materials, applications the next time we wrap a high tensile strength and cooking utensils and a myriad sandwich in aluminium foil or drink a malleability, good thermal of other household goods. carbonated beverage from a can! ❐ QUILLIVIC © LA POSTE, 1986 QUILLIVIC © LA POSTE, and electrical conductivity, Another important feature and a remarkable resistance to corrosion. of this ubiquitous metal, one that has DANIEL RABINOVICH is in the Department Jules Verne eloquently wrote in From the significant economic and environmental of Chemistry at the University of North Earth to the Moon (1865) that “This valuable consequences, is the ease with which it Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. metal possesses the whiteness of silver, the can be recycled. The recovery of secondary e-mail: [email protected] indestructibility of gold, the tenacity of aluminium requires only about 5% of the iron, the fusibility of copper, the lightness energy necessary to produce new metal References of glass. It is easily wrought, it is very widely from bauxite, while also leading to a 1. Sainte-Claire Deville, H. De l’aluminium: ses propriétés, sa fabrication et ses applications (Mallet-Bachelier, 1859) distributed, forming the basis of most of the decreased use of landfill space and a reduced 2. Taguchi, T. & Yanai, H. in Acid Catalysis in Modern Organic rocks, is three times lighter than iron, and emission of greenhouse gases. Synthesis (eds Yamamoto, H. & Ishihara, K.) seems to have been created with the express In contrast to the relatively short history 241–345 (Wiley-VCH, 2008). purpose of furnishing us with the material of the pure metal, compounds of aluminium 3. Roesky, H. W. & Kumar, S. S. Chem. Commun. 4027–4038 (2005). for our projectile.” The price of aluminium, have long been known: alum, a hydrated 4. Schnepf, A. & Schnöckel, H. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. however, was still comparable to that of sulfate of potassium and aluminium, 41, 3532–3552 (2002). 5. Butala, R. R., Cooper, J. K., Mitra, A., Webster, M. K. KAl(SO4)2·12H2O, was used as an astringent & Atwood, D. A. Main Group Chem. 9, 315–335 (2010). and a dyeing mordant in ancient Greece 6. Nichols, S. C. Aluminum by Design: Jewelry to Jets and Rome. Aluminium chloride, AlCl3, (Harry N. Abrams, 2000). Ne Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn 76 NATURE CHEMISTRY | VOL 5 | JANUARY 2013 | www.nature.com/naturechemistry © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

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