The piperidinyl-substituted aluminium azide, [(pip)(2)AlN3](2) (5) (pip = piperidinyl, N(CH2)(4)CH2), has been synthesised via the reaction between [(pip)(2)AlCl](2) and one equivalent of NaN3. A related pyrrolyl derivative, [(Me2N(H))Al(pyr)(3)] (7) (pyr = pyrrolyl, N(CH)(3)CH), was prepared via the dimethylamine elimination reaction between [Al-2(NMe2)(6)] and six equivalents of pyrrole. A third aluminium amido complex, [Li(Al((NHBu)-Bu-t)(4))](2) (9), has been isolated from the salt elimination reaction between AlCl3 and an excess of (LiNHBu)-Bu-t. all three compounds have been characterised by X-ray crystallography; compounds 5 and 9 are dimeric in the solid state, whereas 7 is monomeric. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.