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Abstract Molecular design ultimately furnishes improvements in performance over time, and this has been the case for Rh‐ and Ir‐based molecular catalysts currently used in transfer hydrogenation (TH) reactions for fine chemical synthesis. In this report, we describe a molecular pincer ligand Al catalyst for TH, (I₂P²⁻)Al(THF)Cl (I₂P=diiminopyridine; THF=tetrahydrofuran). The mechanism for TH is initiated by two successive Al‐ligand cooperative bond activations of the O−H bonds in two molecules of isopropanol (ⁱPrOH) to afford six‐coordinate (H₂I₂P)Al(OⁱPr)₂Cl. Stoichiometric chemical reactions and kinetic experiments suggest an ordered transition state, supported by polar solvents, for concerted hydride transfer fromⁱPrO⁻to substrate. Metal‐ligand cooperative hydrogen bonding in a cyclic transition state is a likely support for the concerted hydride transfer event. The available data does not support involvement of an intermediate Al‐hydride in the TH. Proof‐of‐principle reactions including the conversion of isopropanol and benzophenone to acetone and diphenylmethanol with 90 % conversion in 1 h are described. The analogous hydride compound, (I₂P²⁻)Al(THF)H, also cleaves the O−H bond inⁱPrOH to afford (HI₂P⁻)Al(OⁱPr)H and (HI₂P⁻)Al(OⁱPr)₂, but no activity for catalytic TH was observed. 

The relationshipE_pvs. ΔG_H− correlates the applied potential (E_p) needed to drive organohydride formation with the strength of the hydride donor that is formed: hydride transfer catalysis - as in enzymes like LarA - will be more energy efficient ifE_pis shifted anodically using kinetic effect. 

N-alkylation andN-metallation of pyridine are explored herein to understand how metal-ligand complexes can model NAD⁺redox chemistry.