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Updated: Sep 3, 2025

Preparation of Stable Bicyclic Aziridinium Ions and Their Ring-Opening for the Synthesis of Azaheterocycles
Published on: August 22, 2018
Introducing N-Heterocyclic Iminophosphoranes (NHIPs): Synthesis by [3 + 2] Cycloaddition of Azophosphines with
Keita Tanaka1, Martin-Louis Y Riu1, Brian Valladares1
1Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Abstract:
Azophosphines (Ar-N═N-PR2) were prepared from N-aryl-N'-(trimethylsilyl)diazenes (Ar-N═N-SiMe3) and R2PCl by Me3SiCl elimination or oxidation of phosphinohydrazines (Ar-NH-NH-PR2) by 2,5-dialkyl-1,4-benzoquinones. Azophosphines underwent 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with cyclooctyne and dimethylacetylene dicarboxylate to give N-heterocyclic iminophosphoranes (NHIPs), which are structurally similar to cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes. The cycloaddition reaction is compatible with various phosphorus atom substituents including phenyl (NHIP-1,4,6), isopropyl (NHIP-2), cyclohexyl (NHIP-3), and dimethylamino (NHIP-5) groups. The pKBH values of the NHIPs in acetonitrile range from 13.13 to 23.14. On the basis of the Huynh electronic parameter, NHIP-1 and NHIP-2 have σ-donor strengths comparable with that of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene. NHIP-1 underwent facile 1,2-addition with pentafluoropyridine to form a rare fluorophosphorane. The treatment of NHIP-1 with triphenylsilane resulted in P-N bond cleavage, accompanied by the reduction of phosphorus(V) to phosphorus(III). A homoleptic, cationic CuI-NHIP-1 complex was also prepared. The potential utility of π-donating NHIPs was demonstrated by the stabilization of a reactive iminoborane (Cl-B≡N-SiMe3). The facile scalable synthesis, tunability of steric demands, and basicity of NHIPs suggest that this new heterocycle class may find a wide range of applications in synthetic chemistry.
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