Alkenes and Tertiary Phosphines

Read and co-workers found that the complex RhCl(PPh3)3 will selectively catalyze the co-oxidation of both terminal alkenes to methyl ketones, and triphenylphosphine to triphenylphosphine oxide 

The reaction is inhibited by added water. The formation of such a metal-locyclic intermediate resembles the isolation of such compounds from the reaction of Pt02(PPh3)2 with electron-deficient alkenes such as tetracyanoethylene [33]  

Mares has also added support to this mechanism by showing that octene-1 is oxidized to unlabeled 2-octanone using RhCl(AsPh3)3 as catalyst in the 

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Potentially chelating ligands containing both alkene and tertiary phosphine or arsine donor centres were first synthesised in Nyholm s group in 1961 with the... 

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