Preparation and Characterization of P2 BCh Ring Systems (Ch=S, Se) and Their Reactivity with N-Heterocyclic Carbenes
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Updated: Feb 19, 2026

Palladium N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes: Synthesis from Benzimidazolium Salts and Catalytic Activity in Carbon-carbon Bond-forming Reactions
Published on: July 30, 2017
Cameron M E Graham1, Clément R P Millet2, Amy N Price2
1Department of Chemistry and the Centre for Advanced Materials and Biomaterials Research, Western University, 1151 Richmond St., London, Ontario, N6A 5B7, Canada.
Abstract:
Four-membered rings with a P2 BCh core (Ch=S, Se) have been synthesized by the reaction of phosphinidene chalcogenide (Ar*P=Ch) and phosphaborene (Mes*P=BNR2 ). The mechanistic pathways towards these rings are explained by detailed computational work that confirmed the preference for the formation of P-P, not P-B, bonded systems, which seems counterintuitive given that both phosphorus atoms contain bulky ligands. The reactivity of the newly synthesized heterocycles, as well as that of the known (RPCh)n rings (n=2, 3), was probed by the addition of N-heterocyclic carbenes, which revealed that all investigated compounds can act as sources of low-coordinate phosphorus species.
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