Phosphinocarbenes 4-electron ligands

Interestingly, on warming a solution of 94 the phosphine ligand dissociates to afford the new complex 95. An X-ray diffraction study of the latter complex indicates that the phosphinocarbene behaves as a 4-electron ligand (coordination mode B).86... 

Phosphinocarbene or 2 -phosphaacetylene 4, which is in resonance with an ylide form and with a form containing phosphoms carbon triple bond, is a distillable red oil. Electronic and more importantly steric effects make these two compounds so stable. Carbene 4 adds to various electron-deficient olefins such as styrene and substituted styrenes. Bertrand et al. have made excellent use of the push-pull motif to produce the isolable carbenes 5 and 6, which are stable at low temperature in solutions of electron-donor solvents (THF (tetrahydrofuran), diethyl ether, toluene) but dimerizes in pentane solution. Some persistent carbenes are used as ancillary ligands in organometallic chemistry and in catalysis, for example, the ruthenium-based Grubbs catalyst and palladium-based catalysts for cross-coupling reactions. 

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