Direct and Chlorine-Free Synthesis of Phosphafluorenes or Their Oxides from White Phosphorus

Jingyuan Hu, Zhengqi Chai, Wei Liu, Junnian Wei, Ze-Jie Lv, and Wen-Xiong Zhang*

Green Synth. Catal. 2023, 4, 330-333.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gresc.2022.12.008.

The known methods for the preparation of acylphosphine oxides and polyfluorobenzene-substituted triarylphosphines need to utilize PCl₃, while the chlorine-free methods are not reported. In this work, we report a chlorine-free method by one-pot three-component reaction of white phosphorus (P₄), dilithio reagents, and acyl chlorines or polyfluorobenzenes for the synthesis of biphenyl-based acylphosphine oxides and phosphines. This reaction is green and environmentally friendly compared with the traditional method, because it avoids the use of Cl₂ and the discharge of a large amount of waste gas and waste acid. These two products have potential applications as photoinitiators in photopolymerization or as organophosphorus ligands in catalytic reactions.