Addition to phospholes of gaseous HCI at -90 "C or of an excess of trifluoromethanesulphonic acid at -70 "C, results in P-protonation. The triflate solutions are stable up to room temperature, but the 1 Hphospholium chlorides form P V adducts at -70 "C, which rapidly rearrange by a [1,5]sigmatropic Hshift. The observed product is a 1 -chloro-2,5-dihydrophospholium chloride. Addition of a chloride ion source to the triflates produces the same result. Unprotonated 3,4-dimethyl-1 -phenyl phosphole was found to react at a double bond of its 1H-phospholium ion, forming a crystalline 1,3'-biphospholium dimer.Considerable evidence has accumulated recently to support the concept that among phosphole derivatives [ 1,5] sigmatropic shifts of P-substituents to a ring a-carbon atom are common. Such rearrangements have been encountered when the phosphorus has co-ordination states of three (H' and phenyl migrations), four (phenyl migration 2), and five (phenyl and alkoxy 4 * 5 migration). Migration appears to be faster for H than for phenyl, with alkoxy slower than either; also Pv derivatives rearrange faster than PIv and PI''. A combination of these two effects suggests that rearrangement should be exceptionally fast when H is a substituent on phosphorus(v), as in a h5-phosphole * This appears to be a new observation for a phosphine salt. Other examples have been encountered in related work and will be reported elsewhere (L. D. Quin and S. E. Belmont).1969, 91, 3308.