The phosphorus-phosphorus double bond stretching frequency observed in the resonance Raman spectrum of bis(2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenyl)diphosphene

Spectroscopic Identification of Diphosphene HPPH and Isomeric Diphosphinyldene PPH2

The simplest diphosphene HPPH and isomeric diphosphinyldene PPH₂ features prototype phosphorus-phosphorus multiple bonding properties that have been of long-standing interest in main-group chemistry. Herein, we report the observation of cis-HPPH, trans-HPPH, and PPH₂ among the respective laser photolysis products of phosphine (PH₃ ) and diphosphine (P₂ H₄ ) in solid N₂ - and Ar-matrices at 10 K. The identification of these P₂ H₂ isomers with matrix-isolation IR and UV/Vis spectroscopy is supported by D-isotope labeling and the quantum chemical calculations at the CCSD(T)-F12a/cc-pVTZ-F12 level using configuration-selective vibrational configuration interaction theory (VCI). Bonding analyses suggest that the two conformers of HPPH contain standard PP double bonds, whereas, PPH₂ resembles P₂ in having partial PP triple bond due to the H₂ P←P π bonding interaction.

Chemistry of Several Sterically Bulky Molecules with P=P, P=C, and C≡P Bond

Several sterically protected, low-coordinate organophosphorus compounds with P=P, P=C, and C≡P bond are described in this study. Molecules such as diphosphenes, phosphaalkenes, 1-phosphaallenes, 1,3-diphosphaallenes, 3,4-diphosphinidenecyclobutenes, and phosphaalkynes are stabilized with an extremely bulky 2,4,6-tri-t-butylphenyl (Mes*) group. The synthesis, structures, physical, and chemical properties of these molecules are discussed, together with some successful applications in catalytic organic reactions.

Reducing and Reversing the Diphosphene-Diphosphinylidene Energy Separation

The dependence of the relative energies of 116 diphosphene and diphosphinylidene compounds on the modification of their structures is studied theoretically. Optimized geometries and relative energies are reported for all structures. With the purpose of investigating the effects of various substituents on the parent PPH2 and HPPH molecules, isodesmic reaction energies were obtained for single and double substitution. In the case of the substitution of both H atoms by lithoxy (OLi) or ONa groups is the diphosphinylidene type structure found to be lower in energy. For the lithoxy group, the energy difference amounts to 33 kcal/mol at CCSD(T) cc-pVTZ level of theory. This result is explained through the natural population analyses, where a very favorable Coulombic attraction is found in the OLi substituted diphosphinylidene structure. The order of the effectiveness of the substituents in lowering the relative energy of the diphosphinylidene structure is OLi > ONa > OH > OSiH3 > OCH3 > OPh > NH2 > N(CH3)2 > F > ONH2 > OBH2 > CH3 > OOH > Ph > BF2 > PH2 > SiH3 > SH > HC═O > Cl > CF3 > Br > SiF3 > NF2 > NO2 > C≡CH > OF > CN. Natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis explains other qualitative bonding features, for example, phosphorus-phosphorus bond orders as large as 2.5 for R2PP structures and as small as 1.6 for RPPR structures.

Diphosphene and diphosphinylidene

The equilibrium structures of P(2)H(2) isomers and the associated isomerization transition states have been investigated systematically starting from self-consistent-field theory and proceeding to coupled cluster methods using a wide range of basis sets. For each structure, the geometry, energy, dipole moment, harmonic vibrational frequencies, and infrared intensities have been predicted. The global minimum has been confirmed to be planar trans-HPPH diphosphene, lying 3.2 kcal mol(-1) below cis-HPPH with the aug-cc-pVQZ CCSD(T) method upon inclusion of zero-point vibrational energy corrections. Diphosphinylidene, which has the connectivity PPH(2) and C(2v) symmetry, lies 25.2 kcal mol(-1) above the global minimum. The trans-cis isomerization reaction occurs via internal rotation with a barrier of 35.2 kcal mol(-1) using the cc-pVQZ Mk-MRCCSD (2e/2MO) method. This transition state exhibits multireference character and consequently properties were evaluated using CASSCF, MRCI, CASPT2, and Mk-MRCCSD methods with various basis sets. At the aug-cc-pVQZ CCSD(T) level, the transition state for the isomerization reaction between trans-HPPH and diphosphinylidene (planar PPH(2)) is predicted to be nonplanar with a torsional angle of 101.1 degrees . The corresponding barrier is estimated to be 48.2 kcal mol(-1).

Theoretical study on the phenyl torsional potentials of trans-diphenyldiphosphene

The phenyl torsional potentials of trans-diphenyldiphosphene ( trans-phosphobenzene; t-DPP), which is an analogue of trans-azobenzene ( t-AZB), have been examined by means of ab initio complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) calculations. Though the electronic structures of t-DPP are similar to those of t-AZB, the phenyl torsional potentials are different from each other. In S 0, the potential energy curve of t-DPP has double minima at nonplanar conformations with C 2 and C i symmetries, while that of t-AZB has only minimum at a planar conformation with C 2 h . In S 1, the phenyl torsion of t-AZB is impeded from a planar geometry more than that in S 0. On the other hand, the phenyl torsion of t-DPP is promoted so that the phenyl groups are perpendicularly twisted against the PP double bond around the Franck-Condon region. Comments on the experimental findings of realistic diphosphenes protected by bulky substituents are also made.

Heats of Formation of Diphosphene, Phosphinophosphinidene, Diphosphine, and Their Methyl Derivatives, and Mechanism of the Borane-Assisted Hydrogen Release

The heats of formation of diphosphene (cis- and trans-P2H2), phopshinophosphinidene (singlet and triplet H2PP) and diphosphine (P2H4), as well as those of the P2H and P2H3 radicals resulting from PH bond cleavages, have been calculated by using high-level ab initio electronic structure theory. Energies were calculated using coupled-cluster theory with a perturbative treatment for triple excitations (CCSD(T)) and employing augmented correlation consistent basis sets with additional tight d-functions on P (aug-cc-pV(n+d)Z) up to quadruple- or quintuple-zeta, to perform a complete basis set extrapolation for the energy. Geometries and vibrational frequencies were determined with the CCSD(T) method. Core-valence and scalar relativistic corrections were included, as well as scaled zero-point energies. We find the following heats of formation (kcal/mol) at 298 [0] K: DeltaH(degree)(f)(P2H) = 53.4 [54.4]; DeltaH(degree)(f)(cis-P2H2) = 32.0 [33.9]; DeltaH(degree)(f)(trans-P2H2) = 28.7 [30.6]; DeltaH(degree)(f)(H2PP) = 53.7 [55.6]; DeltaH(degree)(f)(3H2PP) = 56.5 [58.3]; DeltaH(degree)(f)(P2H3) = 32.3 [34.8]; DeltaH(degree)(f)(P2H4) = 5.7 [9.1] (expt, 5.0 +/- 1.0 at 298 K); and DeltaH(degree)(f)(CH3PH2) = -5.0 [-1.4]. We estimate these values to have an accuracy of +/-1.0 kcal/mol. In contrast to earlier results, we found a singlet ground state for phosphinophosphinidene (H2PP) with a singlet-triplet energy gap of 2.8 kcal/mol. We calculated the heats of formation of the methylated derivatives CH3PPH, CH3HPPH2, CH3PPCH3, CH3HPP, (CH3)2PP, (CH3)2PPH2, and CH3HPPHCH3 by using isodesmic reactions at the MP2/CBS level. The calculated results for the hydrogenation reactions RPPR + H2 --> RHPPHR and R2PP + H2 --> R2PPH2 show that substitution of an organic substituent for H improves the energetics, suggesting that secondary diphosphines and diphosphenes are potential candidates for use in a chemical hydrogen storage system. A comparison with the nitrogen analogues is given. The mechanism for H2-generation from diphosphine without and with BH3 as a catalyst was examined. Including tunneling corrections, the rate constant for the catalyzed reaction is 4.5 x 1015 times faster than the uncatalyzed result starting from separated catalyst and PH2PH2.

A Kinetically Stabilized Ferrocenyl Diphosphene: Synthesis, Structure, Properties, and Redox Behavior

A new, stable ferrocenyl diphosphene [Tbt-P==P-Fc] (1) (Tbt=2,4,6-tris[bis(trimethylsilyl)methyl]phenyl, Fc = ferrocenyl) was synthesized by the dehydrochlorination reaction of the corresponding diphosphane, [Tbt-P(H)-P(Cl)-Fc] (8), with 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) in good yield. Diphosphene 1 is very stable in the solid state and also in solution. In the 31P NMR spectrum (C6D6), diphosphene 1 showed a low-fielded AB quartet at delta 501.7 and 479.5 ppm with the coupling constant 1J(PP)=546 Hz, which is characteristic of an unsymmetrically substituted trans-diphosphene. The molecular structure of 1 was established by X-ray crystallographic analysis, which showed a trans-diphosphene with a C-P-P-C torsion angle of 177.86(17) degrees . The phosphorus-phosphorus bond length of 1 [2.0285(15) A] which is considerably shorter than the typical P-P single-bond lengths (ca. 2.22-2.24 A) and within the range of reported P=P double-bond lengths (1.985-2.051 A) for diaryl diphosphenes, evidenced the P=P double-bond character of 1 in the solid state. In addition, the cyclic voltammograms of 1 showed reversible reduction and oxidation couples at -1.95 and +0.34 V versus SCE, respectively. The electrochemical results for 1 were reasonably supported by the DFT calculations, which suggested that the LUMO and HOMO orbitals should be mainly pi* orbital of the diphosphene moiety and d orbitals of the iron(II) atom, respectively.