Since the synthesis of 2,2-dimethylpropylidinephosphane l a , the first phosphaethyne that was found to be stable at room temperature, by G. Becker et al.,['I several stable phosphaethynes, lb-ld,l2-,I have been reported. In contrast, stable arsaethynes 2 were unknown until now.a, R = 2,4,6-tri-This is not very surprising, because the arsininesiS1 (arsabenzene) and the arsaalkenes,[61 which contain the -As=C bond are also less stable than the corresponding phosphorus compounds and can undergo decomposition with formation of brown, arsenic-containing products. Synthesis of 2 by KOHor [(nBu),N]F-catalyzed elimination of hexamethyldisiloxane from the arsaalkenes Me,Si -As=C(OSiMe,)R, in analogy to the synthesis of 1, has not, therefore, been possible so far.Recently, we that 2,4,6-tri-tert-butyIbenzoyl chloride 5 undergoes reaction with tris(trimethy1si-1yl)phosphane only at elevated temperatures, e.g., in refluxing dimethoxyethane to give the phosphaethyne Id along with 1,4-bis(trimethylsiloxy)-1,4-bis(2,4,6-tri-~er~-butylphenyl)-2,3-diphosphabutadiene and traces of the phosphaalkene precursor of Id. The corresponding reaction of 5 with tris(trimethylsily1)arsane 3") results primarily in the formation of the brown, arsenic-containing decomposition products.We have now found that, upon addition of the acid chloride 5 to a solution of lithium bis(trimethy1silyl)phosphide. 2 T H F in tetrahydrofuran (THF) [prepared from tris(trimethylsily1)phosphane and nBuLi in THFLS1], exclusively the phosphaethyne Id (yield 12-20%) is formed after 48 h at room temperature, in contrast to the reaction with P(SiMe3)3.Lithium bis(trimethylsily1)arsenide. 2 T H F 4 (see ref.[7a]), prepared from tris(trimethylsily1)arsane 3 and methyllithium, also undergoes reaction at room temperaturewith the acid chloride 5 in anhydrous THF. After reaction for 20 h under nitrogen in the dark, chromatographic workup (oven-dried silica gel 60) of the portion of the reaction mixture that is soluble in n-pentane affords a pale yellow, crystalline compound, m.p. = 114-1 16"C, which, according to spectroscopic and analytical data, is 2-(2,4,6-tri-tert-bu-tylpheny1)-I-arsaethyne 2a, the first stable compound containing an arsenic-carbon triple bond. As(SiMe,), + MeLi 3 0 ci \ / C tBu6,tBu tBu 5 THF + LiAs(SiMe3)2 -2 THF 4 As ill C tBu