Chelated lithium aluminum compounds

Claim 1

A process for purifying impure commercial mixtures of LiAlH 4 or LiBH 4 , said process comprising the steps of: (a) contacting the impure hydride with a chelating agent selected from the group consisting of sparteine, N,N'-di-(C 1 -C 4 alkyl) bispidins, tris-(β-C 1 -C 4 -di-alkylaminoethyl) amines and those compounds having the formulas: ##STR7## wherein a is 1 or 2, depending on the valence of Y; b is 0 or 1, depending on the valence of Y; C is an integer of 0 to 4 inclusive; e is an integer of 0 to 3 inclusive; R' is the same or different C 1 -C 4 alkyl radical, R" is one selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl or aralkyl radical; Y is a nitrogen or oxygenation; Z is a nonreactive radical selected from the group consisting of: (1) C 4 -C 10 cycloaliphatic radicals, or aromatic radicals and their lower alkyl derivatives wherein said radicals are attached to the nitrogen or oxygen atoms in Formula I and the nitrogen atoms in Formula II at 1,2-position on the aromatic rings or 1,2- or 1,3- positions on the cycloaliphatic rings; and (2) 1 to 4 carbon methylenic radicals, wherein each methylenic radical contains 0 to 2 monovalent hydrocarbon radicals of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, in the presence of a solvent for the chelate and (b) separating the soluble chelated LiAlH 4 or LiBH 4 from the insoluble products.