Synthetic and mechanistic aspects of preparation of phosphinito- and phosphito-mercuries

Abstract A >PO − ( 1 ) type of anion has been used as an efficient synthetic precursor of four‐coordinated compounds: R 2 P(O)Hg(O)PR 2 ( 5 ) and R 2 P(O)HgBz ( 3 ) (R = alkoxy, alkyl, aryl). They were obtained in good yield. Bis( t ‐butyl‐phenylphosphinito‐P)mercury (meso and rac) ( 5c,d ) selectively decomposed into 1,2‐di‐ t ‐butyl‐1,2‐diphenyldiphosphane 1,2‐dioxide (meso and rac) ( 6c,d) . Furthermore, some mechanistic aspects of the synthesis of mentioned compounds are elaborated.© 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 19:234–237, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/hc.20409