Low oxidation state group 15 chemistry
Abstract
During the past two decades significant advances have been made in the area of low valent phosphorus chemistry. Much of the more recent work has focused on developing controlled synthetic methods, as well as understanding reactivity of compounds bearing phosphorus atoms in unusually low oxidations states. One of the most studied classes of stable compounds containing P(+1) centers are the triphosphenium salts that consist of a dicoordinate phosphorus cation ligated by two phosphines or a diphosphine ligand. New and improved syntheses of such salts containing halide counter anions were developed and are presented in this thesis. Polyphosphazenes are an important class of phosphorus containing polymers. Although methods exist to replace the phosphinyl fragments within the polymer backbone, methods to replace the nitrogen atoms were unknown. Methods for the substitution of these atoms with P(I) centers were developed and are anticipated to produce new groups of polymers with unique properties.