The aluminium amide Al(NMe2)3 acts as a stoichiometric or catalytic reagent in dehydrogenic Si-N bond formation using amines and silanes. Although of limited substrate scope, this represents the first p-block metal catalytic system for N-H/Si-H dehydrocoupling. The observed catalytic rate law for the formation of aminosilane products in a model study of one of the catalytic reactions suggests a mechanism involving the silane component in the deprotonation of the amine (possibly in the form of a hypervalent silicon hydride).

The reaction of the amido-stannate LiSn(NMe2)3 with the phosphine-borane (t)Bu2PHBH3 gives the Sn(II) hydride [(Me2NH)2Li{BH3P((t)Bu)2}2Sn(H)]; the first example of a hydridic stannate(ii) that is not supported by transition metal or ligand bonding.

The reaction of As(NMe2)3 with Mes*PHLi provides a direct source of the 1,3-diphosphaarsa-2-allyl anion, [(Mes*P)2As](-) (isoelectronic with the allyl anion). The equilibrium between the E,E and E,Z isomers of this anion depends on the extent of Li(+) ion-pairing.

The presence of 18-crown-6 in the Lewis acid-promoted dehydrocoupling reaction of ammonia borane permits isolation of [(THF)BH2NH3](+) and [BH2(NH3)2](+) cations. [(THF)BH2NH3](+) reacts with Lewis bases to give either boron adducts or by deprotonation at nitrogen to give borazine and ammonia-borane.