Reaction of carbon monoxide with tri-tert-butylgallium: The first example of CO insertion into a gallium-carbon bond

Reaction of carbon monoxide with tri-tert-butylgallium yields the dimeric tert-butylacyl complex [tBu2GaC(O)tBu]2 (1) via CO insertion into a Ga-C bond. Compound 1 has been characterized by X-ray crystallography and NMR and IR spectroscopy. Reactions of tBu3M (M = Al, Ga) with CO are also studied by density functional theory.