Phosphorus compounds bearing chirality on the P-center are usually qualified as P-chirogenic or P-stereogenic. This chemical class concerns natural products, agrochemistry, molecular materials, biology and pharmacy, although it is certainly in coordination chemistry and in asymmetric catalysis using chiral transition metal complexes that P-chirogenic phosphorus compounds are the most used. The chiral phosphine ligands and their uses in asymmetric metal-catalyzed reactions have been widely reviewed in literature. However, an overview covering the applications as well as the stereoselective syntheses of all classes of phosphorus compounds has not yet been provided. This review reports the best stereoselective or asymmetric syntheses, the most efficient P*-building blocks and functionalisation of P-chirogenic compounds, in the light of chiral phosphorus compound applications. It is an extensive and useful documentation from pioneering work to recent advances in phosphorus stereochemistry.

The efficient synthesis of chiral or achiral tertiary phosphines bearing an o-bromo (or iodo)aryl substituent is described. The key step of this synthesis is based on the reaction of a secondary phosphine borane with the 1,2-dibromo (or diiodo)arene, owing to the formation in situ of an aryne species in the presence of n-butyllithium. When P-chirogenic secondary phosphine boranes were used, the corresponding o-halogeno-arylphosphine boranes were obtained without racemization in moderate to good yields and with ee up to 99%. The stereochemistry of the reaction, with complete retention of the configuration at the P atom, has been established by X-ray structures of P-chirogenic o-halogenophenyl phosphine borane complexes. The decomplexation of the borane was easily achieved without racemization using DABCO to obtain the free o-halogeno-arylphosphines in high yields.