About the Chemistry of Phosphorus Suboxides

Abstract

A terra incognita of chemistry is represented by the phosphorus suboxides owing to their high reactivity. The present computational study provides the first insights into this interesting class of compound. The picture shows the most stable isomer of P4O2 (the smaller, darker centers denote oxygen atoms)

SN2P2: A Neutral Five‐Membered Sulfur–Pnictogen(III) Ring

“…[1,2] In contrast, ligand-free neutral heterocycles of these elements with 6 p electrons are barely known experimentally, due to either low dissociation barriers or lack of synthetic approaches. Examples are the fivemembered rings ON 4 , [3] SN 4 , [4] OP 4 , [5] and SP 4 , [6] and the sixmembered rings N 6 , [7] P 6 , [8] and P 3 N 3 . [9] Their structures and reactivities have been extensively explored using quantum chemical computations.…”

SN2P2: ein neutraler fünfgliedriger Schwefel‐Pnictogen(III)‐Ring

“…[1,2] Ligandenfreie neutrale 6 p-Elektronen-Heterocyclen mit diesen Elementen sind dagegen experimentell kaum bekannt, da sie entweder kleine Dissoziationsbarrieren aufweisen oder nicht präparativ zugänglich sind. Beispiele für fünfgliedrige Ringe sind ON 4 , [3] SN 4 , [4] OP 4 [5] und SP 4 , [6] und solche für sechsgliedrige sind N 6 , [7] P 6 [8] und P 3 N 3 . [9] Ihre Strukturen und Reaktivitäten ließen sich bisher nur mit quantenchemischen Methoden studieren.…”