Nitrogen phosphorus—hydrogen bonds

NMR is an extremely powerful method for observing the environment of an atom of interest. The element most commonly studied is hydrogen bonded to another element, usually carbon, and is referred to as NMR spectroscopy (sometimes called HNMR, H NMR, P NMR, or proton NMR). The second most commonly studied element is carbon, specifically 13C, bonded to other carbon atoms and to hydrogen atoms. Other elements commonly measured include fluorine, nitrogen, and phosphorus. 

Elimination of trimethylchlorosilane and nitrogen occurs when the (phos-phino)(silyl)diazomethane la is reacted with para-toluenesulfinyl chloride at low temperature. The formation of the four-membered heterocycle 92, obtained in 87% yield, can be rationalized by a multiple-step mechanism involving the formation of the (phosphino)(sulfinyl)carbene 2v. The insertion of the (phosphoryl)(sulfenyl)carbene 91, resulting from a 1,3-oxygen shift from sulfur to phosphorus in 2v, into a carbon-hydrogen bond of a diisopropylamino group readily accounts for the formation of 92.84... 

The key to chemical reactions, including terran biochemical reactions, at standard temperatures and pressures is the reactivity of carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds in molecules that also contain carbon-heteroatom (any atom other than carbon or hydrogen) bonds. Bonds to heteroatoms are often said to activate carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds. In terran metabolism, the most important heteroatoms are oxygen and nitrogen, although sulfur is also important, and other heteroatoms such as phosphorus occasionally play a role. 

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