Patent ID: 7449592

Claim:
A process for the preparation of methylaluminium dichloride comprising the steps of: (i) reacting, by heating a material of the formula R 3 Al 2 X 3 , where R is C 1 -C 4 alkyl and X is selected from bromine and iodine with an aluminium-containing material selected from metallic aluminium and a mixture of metallic aluminium and aluminium trichloride in an atmosphere of methyl chloride, with the proviso that when R is methyl and X is iodine, the aluminium-containing material is a mixture of aluminium and aluminium trichloride; and (ii) when the aluminium-containing material is metallic aluminium, adding aluminium trichloride to this reaction mixture and heating, to give a crude reaction product; and (iii) optionally obtaining methylaluminium dichloride from this crude reaction product.