Sterically crowded peri-substituted naphthalene phosphines and their PV derivatives

Three sterically crowded peri-substituted naphthalene phosphines, Nap[PPh(2)][ER] (Nap=naphthalene-1,8-diyl; ER=SEt, SPh, SePh) 1-3, which contain phosphorus and chalcogen functional groups at the peri positions have been prepared. Each phosphine reacts to form a complete series of P(V) chalcogenides Nap[P(E')(Ph(2))(ER)] (E'=O, S, Se). The novel compounds were fully characterised by using X-ray crystallography and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy and MS. X-ray data for 1, 2, nO, nS, nSe (n=1-3) are compared. Eleven molecular structures have been analysed by naphthalene ring torsions, peri-atom displacement, splay angle magnitude, X...E interactions, aromatic ring orientations and quasi-linear arrangements. An increase in the congestion of the peri region following the introduction of heavy chalcogen atoms is accompanied by a general increase in naphthalene distortion. P...E distances increase for molecules that contain bulkier atoms at the peri positions and also when larger chalcogen atoms are bound to phosphorus. The chalcogenides adopt similar conformations that contain a quasi-linear E...P-C fragment, except for 3O, which displays a twist-axial-twist conformation resulting in the formation of a linear O...Se-C alignment. Ab initio MO calculations performed on 2O, 3O, 3S and 3Se reveal Wiberg bond index values of 0.02 to 0.04, which indicates only minor non-bonded interactions; however, calculations on radical cations of 3O, 3S and 3Se reveal increased values (0.14-0.19).