Author: ["Daniel J. Scott","Jose Cammarata","Maximilian Schimpf","Robert Wolf"]
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Abstract
Monophosphorus compounds are of enormous industrial importance due to the crucial roles they play in applications such as pharmaceuticals, photoinitiators and ligands for catalysis, among many others. White phosphorus (P4) is the key starting material for the preparation of all such chemicals. However, current production depends on indirect and inefficient, multi-step procedures. Here, we report a simple, effective ‘one-pot’ synthesis of a wide range of organic and inorganic monophosphorus species directly from P4. Reduction of P4 using tri-n-butyltin hydride and subsequent treatment with various electrophiles affords compounds that are of key importance for the chemical industry, and it requires only mild conditions and inexpensive, easily handled reagents. Crucially, we also demonstrate facile and efficient recycling and ultimately catalytic use of the tributyltin reagent, thereby avoiding the formation of substantial Sn-containing waste. Accessible, industrially relevant products include the fumigant PH3, the reducing agent hypophosphorous acid and the flame-retardant precursor tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride. State-of-the-art industrial methods for transforming P4 into useful phosphorus compounds currently rely on indirect, multi-step strategies. It has now been shown that straightforward one-pot reactions can convert P4 directly into industrially relevant products while requiring only mild conditions and simple, inexpensive reagents—and can also functionalize P4 catalytically.Cite this article
Scott, D.J., Cammarata, J., Schimpf, M. et al. Synthesis of monophosphines directly from white phosphorus. Nat. Chem. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-021-00657-7 