Single bonds are described in the valence-bond (VB) model in terms of resonance between covalent and ionic canonical structures (Scheme 1).[1] Whereas the covalent canonical structure is dominant for homoatomic bonds (AÀB), the weight of the appropriately polarized ionic canonical structure prevails for heteroatomic bonds with a large electronegativity difference (cA ! cB). As a result, this leads to a lower covalent bond order and a substantial bond polarityWe reported in 2000 on the hydride reactivity of 2-hydridodiazaphospholenes 1, and interpreted this behavior as a consequence of a polarization P d+ ÀH dÀ of the PÀH bond that can be explained in terms of a hyperconjugation between the six p electrons in the C 2 N 2 moiety and the s*(PÀH) orbital. [2] In the frame of the VB model, this indicates that ionic canonical structures contribute, regardless of the low electronegativity difference (c AR (H) 2.2, c AR (P) 2.06), significantly to the bonding. The cause of this effect lies in the high cation stability of the diazaphospholenium fragment which yields an energetic stabilization of canonical structures such as 1'' and 1''', and provides, for example, the driving force for the increased tendency towards dissociation of P-halogeno-1,3,2-diazaphospholenes.[3] Following this principle, a combination of a diazaphospholenium with a stable anionic phosphanide fragment should likewise render the polarization of the homoatomic PÀP bond of a diphosphane feasible. Herein we describe the synthesis and characterization of such derivatives, and the unusual reactivity of the PÀP bond resulting from the polarization will be demonstrated.First attempts at the synthesis of P-phosphanyldiazaphospholenes were made starting from lithium diphenylphosphanide (2) or lithium tetraethyl phospholide (3), [4] whose high anion stability offer particularly suitable conditions for a dipolar polarization of the PÀP bond. The reaction of 2 or 3 with an equivalent of the P-chlorodiazaphospholene 4 in THF yielded cleanly the target compounds 5 a,b, which were isolated after workup as yellow, crystalline solids that are sensitive to hydrolysis and were characterized by means of spectroscopic and analytical studies (Scheme 2).Whereas the spectroscopic data are not very unusual, [5] Xray crystal structural studies [6] furnished clear evidence for a weakening of the PÀP bond that is expected as the result of an increased weight of ionic canonical structures such as 5'''. The P1ÀP2 bond length in 5 a (2.334(1) , Figure 1) is substantially longer than typical PÀP distances in diphosphanes (2.217 AE 0.08 [8] ) and exceeds even the distances in the sterically overcrowded [{(Me 3 Si) 2 CH} 2 P] 2 (2.310 ), [9] which dissociates easily under homolytic cleavage of the PÀP bond to give two radicals, and in the 1,1-diaminodiphosphane (iPr 2 N) 2 PÀPPh 2 (2.250 ), [10] for which, owing to the significantly lower cation stability of (iPr 2 N) 2 P + as compared to a diazaphospholenium cation, [3] a less pronounced dipolar polarization of the PÀP bond is expe...