Inorganic Triphenylphosphine

Abstract

Ac ompletely inorganic version of one of the most famous organophosphorus compounds,t riphenylphosphine, has been prepared. Ac omparison of the crystal structures of inorganic triphenylphosphine,P Baz 3 (where Baz = B 3 H 2 N 3 H 3 )a nd PPh 3 shows that they have superficial similarities and furthermore,t he Lewis basicities of the two compounds are remarkably similar.H owever,t heir oxygenation and hydrolysis reactions are starkly different. PBaz 3 reacts quantitatively with water to give PH 3 and with the oxidizing agent ONMe 3 to give the triply-O-inserted product P(OBaz) 3 ,a ni norganic version of triphenyl phosphite; ac orresponding transformation with PPh 3 is inconceivable. Thermodynamically,w hat drives these striking differences in the chemistry of PBaz 3 and PPh 3 is the great strength of the B À Ob ond.