Dedicated to Professor Alfred Schmidpeter on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
ABSTRACTThe iminophosphane, ~Bu~P-P=N-NR~ (R=SiMeJ, produced by base-catalyzed elimination of ClSiMe3 from the corresponding phosphane, possesses an unusually long PN bond (162 pm), which is in accord with quantum chemical calculations.According to quantum chemical calculations uelectron-push-pull substitution exerts unexpected bonding effects on P(II1) double bonded systems [l]; in iminophosphanes a strong c+-acceptor at phosphorus tends to shorten the PN double bond (case I) with concomitant linearization of the nitrogen environment, while a u-acceptor at the nitrogen does the opposite; it lengthens the PN bond (case 11). Hitherto only case I has been experimentally verified in detail [2] (Scheme 1). Here we report on the synthesis, structural elucidation, and quantum chemical investigations on its bonding properties of a novel 1 -phosphinodiazaphosphene (3). Reaction of the hydrazino(dich1oro)phosphane 1 [3] with one equivalent of lithium-bis-t.butylphosphide [4] produces the hydrazino-diphosphane 2. Treatment of 2 with DBU results in a smooth elimination of chlorosilane with formation of the 1-phosphinodiazaphosphene 3 (Scheme 2). The constitution of both compounds was proven by means of mass and NMR spectral data, and X-ray structural analysis for 3. The deshielding of the low field 31P signal of the AX spectrum of 3 (6 = 429) is consistent with the formation of the PN-double bond system. The structure of 3 is illustrated in Figure 1. In contrast to 1-aminodiazaphosphene, tmp-P=N-N(SiMe& 4 [5], in 3 the bis (trimethylsily1)amino group is coplanar with the central P,-system, thus allowing the formation of a 4-electron 3-center-(PNN) p,-system (111, Scheme 3). This is further corroborated by the shortening of the N-N bond, 138 pm, and the widening of the P-N-N angle, 124", compared to 4, 150 pm, 107" [5]. The P-P bond distance, 220 pm, is in accord with the order of unity, while the valence angle at the u2-phosphorus, 95", is the smallest found so far in iminophosphanes [6]. However, most remarkable is the unusually long PN double bond distance, 162 pm, which is even longer than found in bis(amin0)phosphenium cations [7].