Water mediated synthesis of dialkylphosphine oxides from white phosphorus and N-(acyloxy)phthalimides†

Abstract

The multicomponent synthesis of dialkylphosphine oxides from P₄ without a chlorination step is reported. With the use of N-(acyloxy)phthalimides (NHPI esters) as the alkylation reagents, H₂O as the oxygen source, tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium dichloride as a photocatalyst, 2,6-lutidine as a base, and N,N-dimethylacetamide as a solvent, the reactions are performed under green light irradiation, yielding the desired products in moderate to good yields. Notably, this catalytic system is also capable of synthesizing α-hydroxy phosphine oxides from P₄ in one-pot. This two step-economic approach, which directly utilizes P₄ as the P-atom source, avoids the traditional chlorination stage and oxidation processes.