Primary phosphanes (RPH 2 ) have a reputation as noxious compounds which are spontaneously flammable in air. [1] We have recently demonstrated, however, that they can be stabilized to air oxidation without any need for steric protection, providing sufficient p conjugation is incorporated into the organic R group; thus we were able to prepare the first air-stable chiral primary phosphanes. [2] Since then, we have been developing a working model based on DFT, which indicates that, contrary to popular belief, many primary phosphanes will be air-stable if the molecule contains a high degree of conjugation (see below). [3] As such, the model predicted that the incorporation of the phosphino group onto a boron dipyrromethene (Bodipy [4] ) skeleton would also produce air-stable primary phosphanes. These phosphanes should provide a highly versatile gateway into a vast range of fluorescent phosphane derivatives, which are currently sorely underrepresented, despite the importance of phosphanes in catalytic and biomedical applications. To explore this exciting possibility, we commenced a synthetic study based on the strategy shown in Scheme 1. The fluorescent aryl bromide derivative of Bodipy, 1, was synthesized in a one-pot reaction. [5] Following difficulties with retaining the two fluorine atoms in the later reduction step, [6] we treated 1 with two equivalents of phenyllithium to give the novel derivative 2 a, which was characterized by X-ray crystallography ( Figure S1 in the Supporting Information). A palladium-catalyzed coupling reaction of 2 a with diethylphosphite yielded the fluorescent phosphonate 3 a, which was also analyzed by X-ray crystallography ( Figure S3 in the Supporting Information). Phosphonate 3 a was then reduced quantitatively to the primary phosphane 4 a by using a combination of lithium aluminum hydride and chlorotrimethylsilane. As predicted by the model, 4 a was found to be stable to oxidation; when exposed to air both in the solid state and in chloroform solution over seven days, no decomposition was observed. Importantly, incorporation of the phosphonate and the phosphino group did not dramatically alter the photophysical properties of the molecules when compared to the parent aryl bromide 2 a (Table 1). This finding was not unexpected, as the results from our DFT calculations show that the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs), up to the HOMO-6 of 2 a, do not incorporate the phosphorus atom, although they are affected by the phenyl rings on the boron atom ( Figure S6 in the Supporting Information). It is noteworthy that, after the aryl substitution of 1, the quantum yield (F) of aryl bromide 2 a drops from 0.65 to 0.079. In an effort to maintain the high quantum yield of 1, but to still allow the reduction step, we treated 1 with two equivalents of methyllithium to give the dimethyl aryl bromide derivative 2 b, which was also characterized by X-ray crystallography ( Figure S2 in the Supporting Information). Substitution of the fluorine atoms by methyl groups has a less detrimental effe...