Quantitative phosphorescence study of interactions of cytosine and cytidine and its nucleotides in frozen aqueous solution: evidence for anomalous heavy-atom effect

Phosphorescence vs. pH titration curves of cytosine, cytidine, cytidine-5'-mono-phosphate (CMP), -diphosphate (CDP) and -triphosphate (CTP) were obtained in methanol/water 10/90 v/v and in various aqueous sodium halide solutions frozen at 77 degrees K. As shown by the shape of the titration curve, molecular aggregates or "puddles" of cytosine and cytidine were shown to occur only in relatively concentrated frozen solution (10(-3)M), these aggregates being dissociated in dilute frozen solutions (相似文献   

Analytical study of the phosphorescence of pyrimidine derivatives in frozen aqueous solution

Phosphorescence excitation and emission spectra, phosphorescence lifetimes, phosphorimetric analytical curves and limits of detection were determined at 77K in 10/90 v/v methanol/water solution for seven pyrimidine derivatives. The effect of pH on the phosphorescence intensity indicated an improvement of the sensitivity of the method in basic medium (pH reverse similar11). Low limits of detection, between 10(-5) and 10(-8)M, were obtained. The effect of sodium iodide on the phosphorescence efficiency led to heavy-atom enhancement factors ranging from 1.1 to 9.6, depending on the molecular structure and the pH conditions.     

Reductive halogen elimination from phenols by organic radicals in aqueous solutions; chain reaction induced by proton-coupled electron transfer

Gamma-radiolysis and measurements of halide ions by means of ion chromatography have been employed to investigate reductive dehalogenation of chloro-, bromo-, and iodophenols by carbon-centered radicals, *CH(CH(3))OH, *CH(2)OH, and *CO(2)-, in oxygen-free aqueous solutions in the presence of ethanol, methanol, or sodium formate. While the reactions of 4-IC(6)H(4)OH with *CH(CH(3))OH and *CH(2)OH radicals are endothermic in water/alcohol solutions, the addition of bicarbonate leads to iodide production in high yields, indicative of a chain reaction. The maximum effect has been observed with about 10 mM sodium bicarbonate present. The complex formed from an alpha-hydroxyalkyl radical and a bicarbonate anion is considered to cause the enhancement of the reduction power of the former to the extent at which the reduction of the iodophenol molecule becomes exothermic. No such effect has been observed with phosphate, which is a buffer with higher proton affinity, when added in the concentration of up to 20 mM at pH 7. This indicates that one-electron reduction reactions by alpha-hydroxyalkyl radicals occur by the concerted proton-coupled electron transfer, PCET, and not by a two-step ET/PT or PT/ET mechanisms. The reason for the negative results with phosphate buffer could be thus ascribed to a less stable complex or to the formation of a complex with a less suitable structure for an adequate support to reduce iodophenol. The reduction power of the carbonate radical anion is shown to be high enough to reduce iodophenols by a one-electron-transfer mechanism. In the presence of formate ions as H-atom donors, the dehalogenation also occurs by a chain reaction. In all systems, the chain lengths depend on the rate of reducing radical reproduction in the propagation step, that is, on the rate of H-atom abstraction from methanol, ethanol, or formate by 4-*C(6)H(4)OH radicals liberated after iodophenol dehalogenation. The rate constants of those reactions were determined from the iodide yield measurements at a constant irradiation dose rate. They were estimated to be 6 M(-1)(s-1) for methanol, 140 M(-1)(s-1) for ethanol, and 2100 M(-1)(s-1) for formate. Neither of the tested reducing C-centered radicals was able to dehalogenate the bromo or chloro derivative of phenol.     

Heavy-atom enhancement and analytical figures of merit for low-temperature phosphorimetry in the red region for several polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons

Analytical figures of merit for the low-temperature (77 K) phosphorescence of 22 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons are presented. Also, heavy-atom enhancement factors have been obtained for these compounds with an n-heptane solvent with iodoethane and dimethylmercury as sources of external heavy atoms, and with a 3:1 v/v ethanol/water solvent with potassium iodide, silver nitrate, thallium acetate, and lead acetate as heavy-atom sources. Effects of these heavy atoms on the phosphorescence signals vary markedly, depending on the compound of interest.     

Room-temperature,phosphorimetric determination of the beta-blocking agent pindolol in pharmaceutical tablets,urine and blood serum

It is already recognised that heavy-atom-induced, room-temperature phosphorescence can be used to determine pindolol in pharmaceutical samples and biological fluids. We describe here a new, simple, rapid and selective development of this technique. The phosphorescence signals derive from the interaction of pindolol with a relatively high concentration of heavy-atom salts in the presence of sodium sulphite as oxygen scavenger. Phosphorescence was registered in the presence of 1.2 M potassium iodide, 15 mM sodium sulphite and 30% v/v methanol at 450 nm, exciting at 285 nm. The detection limit was 21.1 ng mL⁻¹. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of pindolol in commercial pharmaceutical tablets, urine and blood serum.     

Vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization of small methanol and methanol-water clusters

In this work, we report on the vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization of small methanol and methanol-water clusters. Clusters of methanol with water are generated via co-expansion of the gas phase constituents in a continuous supersonic jet expansion of methanol and water seeded in Ar. The resulting clusters are investigated by single photon ionization with tunable vacuum-ultraviolet synchrotron radiation and mass analyzed using reflectron mass spectrometry. Protonated methanol clusters of the form (CH3OH)nH(+) (n = 1-12) dominate the mass spectrum below the ionization energy of the methanol monomer. With an increase in water concentration, small amounts of mixed clusters of the form (CH3OH)n(H2O)H(+) (n = 2-11) are detected. The only unprotonated species observed in this work are the methanol monomer and dimer. Appearance energies are obtained from the photoionization efficiency (PIE) curves for CH3OH(+), (CH3OH)2(+), (CH3OH)nH(+) (n = 1-9), and (CH3OH)n(H2O)H(+) (n = 2-9) as a function of photon energy. With an increase in the water content in the molecular beam, there is an enhancement of photoionization intensity for the methanol dimer and protonated methanol monomer at threshold. These results are compared and contrasted to previous experimental observations.     

Gramicidin A and its complexes with Cs+ and Tl+ ions in organic solvents. A study by steady state and time resolved emission spectroscopy

Gramicidin A (gr A), a linear pentadecapeptide containing four trp residues has been studied using steady state and time resolved fluorescence (at 298 K) and phosphorescence (at 77 K) in methanol (CH3OH), ethanol (C2H5OH), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), 1,4-dioxane, 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF), ethanol/benzene (C2H5OH/C6H6) mixed solvent. Similar studies have also been carried out in CH3OH containing monovalent cations K+, Cs+, Tl+ and divalent cation Ca2+. Lambda(max) of fluorescence is found to be a good signature of the different forms having double helical structure [dh (1) to dh (4)] (J. Struct. Biol. 121 (1998) 123-141). Steady state and time resolved quenching studies of gr A by KI in CH3OH and DMSO and life time of the emitting singlet states of gr A support that gr A exists as a mixture of different forms of double helical (dh) structure [dh (1) to dh (4)] in CH3OH and as a random coil structure in DMSO. This study further indicates that emitting trp residue in DMSO is better shielded than that in CH3OH. Phosphorescence spectra of gr A at 77 K in CH3OH glass suggests that gr A retains a particular conformation dh (3) in this matrix. The phosphorescence spectra of gr A [conformation dh (4)] in 2-MeTHF at 77 K is further red shifted indicating that among all the dh forms, dh (4) has the emitting trp residue in most hydrophobic environment. The hydrophobicity of the emitting tryptophan environment is thus found to be in the order: dh (1)相似文献   

Why are proton transfers at carbon slow? Self-exchange reactions

When the quantum character of proton transfer is taken into account, the intrinsic slowness of self-exchange proton transfer at carbon appears as a result of its nonadiabatic character as opposed to the adiabatic character of proton transfer at oxygen and nitrogen. This difference is caused by the lesser polarity of C-H bonds as compared to that of O-H and N-H bonds. Besides solvent and heavy-atom intramolecular reorganizations, the kinetics of the reaction are consequently governed at the level of a pre-exponential term by proton tunneling through the barrier. These contrasting behaviors are illustrated by an analysis of the CH(3)H + (-)CH(3), H(2)O + OH(-), and (+)NH(4) + NH(3) self-exchange reactions. The effect of electron-withdrawing substituents and the case of cation radicals are discussed within the same framework taking the O(2)NCH(2)H + CH(2)=NO(2)(-) and (+.)H(2)NCH(2)H + (.)CH(2)NH(2) as examples. Illustrated by the CH(2)=CH-CH(2)H + (-)CH(2)-CH=CH(2) couple, it is shown that the "imbalanced character of the transition state" is related to heavy-atom intramolecular reorganization. Combination of these various effects is finally analyzed, taking the O(2)N-CH(2)=CH-CH(2)H + CH(2)=CH-CH=NO(2)(-) and (+.)H(2)N-CH(2)=CH-CH(2)H + (.)CH(2)-CH=CH(2)-NH(2) couples as examples.     

Neutral molecular Pd6 hexagons using kappa3-P2O-terdentate ligands

The one-step synthesis of three new P2O-terdentate carboxylic acid ditertiary phosphines 2-{(Ph2PCH2)2N}-3-(X)C6H3CO2H (X = OCH3, L1; X = OH, L2) and 2-{(Ph2PCH2)2N}-5-(OH)C6H3CO2H (L3) by a phosphorus-based Mannich condensation reaction using Ph2PCH2OH and the appropriate amine in CH3OH is reported. Compounds L1-L3 function as typical kappa2-P2-didentate ligands upon complexation to Pd(CH3)Cl(cod) (cod = cycloocta-1,5-diene), affording the neutral, mononuclear complexes Pd(CH3)Cl(L1-L3) (1-3). Metathesis of 1 with NaX (X = Br, I) gave the corresponding (methyl)bromopalladium(II) (4) and (methyl)iodopalladium(II) (5) complexes, respectively. When chloroform or chloroform/methanol solutions of 1-3 (or 5) were allowed to stand, at ambient temperatures, yellow crystalline solids were isolated in very high yields (71-88%) and were analyzed for the novel hexameric palladium(II) compounds 6-9. All new compounds reported have been fully characterized by a combination of spectroscopic (multinuclear NMR, Fourier transform IR, electrospray mass spectrometry, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry) and analytical methods. The self-assembly reactions are remarkably clean as monitored by 31P{1H} and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Single-crystal X-ray structures have been determined for L1, 4, 7.17CDCl3.2Et2O, 8.6CHCl3.8CH3OH, and 9.17CDCl3. In hexamers 7-9, all six square-planar palladium(II) metal centers comprise a kappa2-P2-chelating diphosphine, a kappa1-O-monodentate carboxylate, and either a chloride or iodide ligand, leading to 48-membered metallomacrocycles (with outside diameters of ca. 2.5 nm). Whereas only intramolecular O-H...N hydrogen bonding between the hydroxy group and tertiary amine has been observed in 7, strong intermolecular O-H...O hydrogen bonding of the type CO...HO(CH3)...HO, involving a methanol solvate, has been found in 8, leading to an unprecedented three-dimensional network motif.     

Syntheses, X-ray crystal structures, and optical, fluorescence, and nonlinear optical characterizations of diphenylphosphino-substituted bithiophenes

A series of bithiophene derivatives that are either symmetrically disubstituted with two Ph(2)(X)P groups (X = O, S, Se) or monosubstituted with one Ph(2)(X)P group (X = O, S, Se) and an organic functional group (H, CHO, CH(2)OH, CO(2)Me) have been synthesized. The X-ray crystal structures of Ph(2)(Se)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)P(Se)Ph(2), Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)H, Ph(2)(S)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)H, and Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)CH(2)OH exhibit very different solid-state structures depending on the type of intermolecular π-π interactions that occur. The compounds have been characterized by electronic absorption and fluorescence studies. Of particular interest is that the quantum yields of Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)H, Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)P(O)Ph(2), Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)CO(2)Me, and Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)CH(2)OH are significantly larger than that of bithiophene (factors of 13, 14, 14, and 22, respectively). This behavior is quite different from that of analogously substituted terthiophenes in which substitution results in only modest increases in the quantum yields over that of terthiophene (factors of 0.94, 2.7, 1.3, and 1.5, respectively). DFT studies of the emission process suggest that modifying the Ph(2)(X)P group affects both the fluorescence and nonradiative rate constants while modifications of the organic substituents primarily affect the nonradiative rate constants. The higher quantum yields of the substituted bithiophenes make them promising for application in organic light-emitting devices (OLED). The optical power limiting (OPL) performances of these Ph(2)(X)P-substituted bithiophenes were evaluated by nonlinear transmission measurements in the violet-blue spectral region (430-480 nm) with picosecond laser pulses. The OPL performances are enhanced by heavier X groups and when by higher solubilities. Saturated chloroform solutions of Ph(2)(O)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)H and Ph(2)(S)P(C(4)H(2)S)(2)H exhibit significantly stronger nonlinear absorption than any previously reported compounds and are promising candidates for use in broadband optical power limiters.     

Deuterium enrichment of interstellar methanol explained by atom tunneling

We calculate, down to low temperature and for different isotopes, the reaction rate constants for the hydrogen abstraction reaction H + H(3)COH → H(2) + CH(2)OH/CH(3)O. These explain the known abundances of deuterated forms of methanol in interstellar clouds, where CH(2)DOH can be almost as abundant as CH(3)OH. For abstraction from both the C- and the O-end of methanol, the barrier-crossing motion involves the movement of light hydrogen atoms. Consequently, tunneling plays a dominant role already at relatively high temperature. Our implementation of harmonic quantum transition state theory with on the fly calculation of forces and energies accounts for these tunneling effects. The results are in good agreement with previous semiclassical and quantum dynamics calculations (down to 200 K) and experimental studies (down to 295 K). Here we extend the rate calculations down to lower temperature: 30 K for abstraction from the C-end of methanol and 80 K for abstraction from the OH-group. At all temperatures, abstraction from the C-end is preferred over abstraction from the O-end, more strongly so at lower temperature. Furthermore, the tunneling behavior strongly affects the kinetic isotope effects (KIEs). D + H(3)COH → HD + CH(2)OH has a lower vibrationally adiabatic barrier than H + H(3)COH → H(2) + CH(2)OH, giving rise to an inverse KIE (k(H)/k(D) < 1) at high temperature, in accordance with previous experiments and calculations. However, since tunneling is more facile for the light H atom, abstraction by H is favored over abstraction by D below ~135 K, with a KIE k(H)/k(D) of 11.2 at 30 K. The H + D(3)COD → HD + CD(2)OD reaction is calculated to be much slower than the D + H(3)COH → HD + CH(2)OH, in agreement with low-temperature solid-state experiments, which suggests the preference for H (as opposed to D) abstraction from the C-end of methanol to be the mechanism by which interstellar methanol is deuterium-enriched.     

Photochemical cleavage and release of para-substituted phenols from alpha-keto amides

In aqueous media alpha-keto amides 4-YC6H4OCH2COCON(R)CH(R')CH3 (5a, R = Et, R' = H; 5b, R = iPr, R' = Me) with para-substituted phenolic substituents (Y = CN, CF3, H) undergo photocleavage and release of 4-YC6H4OH with formation of 5-methyleneoxazolidin-4-ones 7a,b. For both 5a,b quantum yields range from 0.2 to 0.3. The proposed mechanism involves transfer of hydrogen from an N-alkyl group to the keto oxygen to produce zwitterionic intermediates 8a-c that eliminate the para-substituted phenolate leaving groups. The resultant imminium ions H2C=C(OH)CON+(R)=C(R')CH3 9a,b cyclize intramolecularly to give 7a,b. The quantum yields for photoelimination decrease in CH3CN, CH2Cl2, or C6H6 due to competing cyclization of 8a,b to give oxazolidin-4-one products which retain the leaving group 4-YC6H4O- (Y = H, CN). A greater tendency to undergo cyclization in nonaqueous media is observed for the N,N-diethyl amides 5a than the N,N-diisopropyl amides 5b. With para electron releasing groups Y = CH3 and OCH3 quantum yields for photoelimination significantly decrease and 1,3-photorearrangment of the phenolic group is observed. The 1,3-rearrangement involves excited state ArO-C bond homolysis to give para-substituted phenoxyl radicals, which can be observed directly in laser flash photolysis experiments.     

Nanosized particles of organically modified silica as microreactors to enhance the regioselectivity in the photocycloaddition of 9-substituted anthracenes

[reaction: see text] Nanosized particles of modified silica with 3-ammoniumpropyl residue have been prepared and successfully used as microreactors to control the regioselectivity of the photocycloaddition of five 9-substituted anthracences [AnCH(2)N(+)(CH(3))(3)Br(-) (1), AnCH(2)COO(-)Na(+) (2), AnCH(2)CH(2)COOH (3), AnCH(2)OH (4), AnCH(3) (5), where An = 9-anthryl]. While the photocycloaddition of the five substrates in methanol mainly gave rise to their head-to-tail (h-t) photocyclomers, irradiation of 1-4 incorporated in the suspension of the modified silica in methanol almost exclusively yielded the head-to-head (h-h) photocyclomers with high quantum yields.     

Homotrinuclear lanthanide(III) arrays: assembly of and conversion from mononuclear and dinuclear units

The reactions of potentially hexadentate H2bbpen (N,N'-bis(2-hydroxybenzyl)-N,N'-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-ethylenediamine, H2L1), H2(Cl)bbpen (N,N'-bis(5-chloro-2-hydroxybenzyl)-N,N'-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine, H2L2), and H2(Br)bbpen (N,N'-bis(5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzyl)-N,N'-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine, H2L3) with Ln(III) ions in the presence of a base in methanol resulted in three types of complexes: neutral mononuclear ([LnL(NO3)]), monocationic dinuclear ([Ln2L2(NO3)]+), and monocationic trinuclear ([Ln3L2(X)n(CH3OH)]+), where X = bridging (CH3COO-) and bidentate ligands (NO3-, CH3COO-, ClO4-) and n is 4. The formation of a complex depends on the base (hydroxide or acetate) and the size of the respective Ln(III) ion. All complexes were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and elemental analyses; in some cases, X-ray diffraction studies were also performed. The structures of the neutral mononuclear [Yb(L1)(NO3)], dinuclear [Pr2(L1)2(NO3)(H2O)]NO3.CH3OH and [Gd2(L1)2(NO3)]NO3.CH3OH.3H2O, and trinuclear [Gd3(L3)2(CH3COO)4(CH3OH)]ClO4.5CH3OH and [Sm3(L1)2(CH3COO)2(NO3)2(CH3OH)]NO3.CH3OH.3.65H2O were solved by X-ray crystallography. The [LnL(NO3)] or [Ln2L2(NO3)]+ complexes could be converted to [Ln3L2(X)n(CH3OH)]+ complexes by the addition of 1 equiv of a Ln(III) salt and 2-3 equiv of sodium acetate in methanol. The trinuclear complexes were found to be the most stable of the three types, which was evident from the presence of the intact monocationic high molecular weight parent peaks ([Ln3L2(X)n]+) in the mass spectra of all the trinuclear complexes and from the ease of conversion from the mononuclear or dinuclear to the trinuclear species. The incompatibility of the ligand denticity with the coordination requirements of the Ln(III) ions was proven to be a useful tool in the construction of multinuclear Ln(III) metal ion arrays.     

Polymerization processes in Al(OBu(s))3 sol-gel solutions: An investigation by laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

The hydrolysis and polycondensation reactions of Al(OBu(s))3 have been studied by laser desorption/ionization (LDI), performed on the solid samples originating from different aluminum alkoxide solutions, prepared using the usual operating conditions employed in the sol-gel synthesis of Al2O3-based materials. CHCl3, CH3OH and CH3OH/H2O mixture were used as solvents. In the latter case different H2O/Al(OBu(s))3 molar ratios were adopted, i.e. 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4. The obtained hydrolysis and polycondensation species consist of polynuclear species containing < or =12 aluminum atoms. In the CHCl3 solutions, the formation of the observed hydrolysis products has been ascribed to the reaction with water present in the atmosphere during the LDI sample preparation and/or present at trace level in the solvent. When methanol is used as a solvent, extensive methanolysis reactions take place, thus originating oligomers with CH3O and OH substituents. The kinetics of formation of the various polynuclear species are dependent on the reaction environment and the reaction is faster in the presence of methanol. It is worth noticing that, regardless of the hydrolysis process, the polycondensation products can be considered as originating from a common tetrameric core [Al4O4(OBu)2(OH)2] around which different building blocks are condensed to form various oxo-polymeric species.     

Photochemical investigation of Roussin's red salt esters: Fe2(mu-SR)2(NO)4

The photochemistry of various Roussin's red ester compounds of the general formula Fe(2)(SR)(2)(NO)(4), where R = CH(3), CH(2)CH(3), CH(2)C(6)H(5), CH(2)CH(2)OH, and CH(2)CH(2)SO(3)(-), were investigated. Continuous photolyses of these ester compounds in aerated solutions led to the release of NO with moderate quantum yields for the photodecomposition of the ester (Phi(RSE) = 0.02-0.13). Electrochemical studies using an NO electrode demonstrated that 4 mol of NO are generated for each mole of ester undergoing photodecomposition. Nanosecond flash photolysis studies of Fe(2)(SR)(2)(NO)(4) (where R = CH(2)CH(2)OH and CH(2)CH(2)SO(3)(-)) indicate that the initial photoreaction is the reversible dissociation of NO. In the absence of oxygen, the presumed intermediate, Fe(2)(SR)(2)(NO)(3), undergoes second-order reaction with NO to regenerate the parent cluster with a rate constant of k(NO) = 1.1 x 10(9) M(-1) s(-1) for R = CH(2)CH(2)OH. Under aerated conditions the intermediate reacts with oxygen to give permanent photochemistry.     

还原剂对Au-Pd/CeO2催化剂甲醇部分氧化性能的影响

以PVP为保护剂,乙醇(ER)、乙二醇(GR)和水合肼(HR)为还原剂制备了一系列Au-Pd/CeO2催化剂,考察了还原剂对甲醇部分氧化性能的影响,并运用XRD、TPD和TPR等手段对催化剂进行了表征。结果表明,Au-Pd/CeO2(ER)催化剂具有较大的比表面积,形成的AuxPdy量较多、粒径较小、分散度较高、活性组分与载体的相互作用较强,同时对甲醇的吸附量较大和吸附温度较低。因此,该催化剂具有较高的催化活性和氢气选择性以及较低的CO质量分数。     

Polarization effect in the electronically excited state of benzene derivatives and related compounds

The energies of intramolecular charge-transfer bands and excited singlet and triplet states, as well as the molar absorption coefficients of mono- and para-disubstituted benzenes and monosubstituted naphthalenes and pyridines depend not only on the inductive and resonance substituent effects, but also on their polarization effect which can be characterized by σ_α constants. The polarization effect determines the lifetime of the triplet state and phosphorescence quantum yield of monosubstituted naphthalenes.     

Interaction of NaI with solid water and methanol

The interaction of NaI with amorphous solid water (ASW) and methanol (MeOH) has been investigated with metastable impact electron spectroscopy (MIES), UPS(HeI), and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). We have studied the electron emission from the ionization of the highest-lying states of H(2)O, CH(3)OH, and of 5pI. We have prepared NaI layers on ASW (MeOH) films at about 105 K and annealed them up to about 200 K. Surface segregation of iodide is observed in ASW, as predicted for NaI aqueous solutions. On the other hand, surface segregation is not observed in MeOH, again as predicted for the interaction of NaI with liquid methanol. Electronic properties (ionization potentials, optical band gaps) and water binding energies are reported and are analyzed on the basis of available DFT results for hydrated NaI clusters.     

Water-soluble hydroxyalkylated phosphines: examples of their differing behaviour toward ruthenium and rhodium

The reaction of P(CH2OH)3 (I) and P(C6H5)(CH2OH)2 (II) with RuCl3 in methanol eliminates two equivalents of formaldehyde to yield the mixed tertiary and secondary phosphine complexes all-trans-[RuCl2(P(CH2OH)3)2(P(CH2OH)2H)2] (1) and [RuCl2(P(C6H5)(CH2OH)2)2(P(C6H5)(CH2OH)H)2] (2), respectively. There is a high degree of hydrogen-bonding interactions between the hydroxymethyl groups in 1 and 2, although the phenyl groups of the latter reduce the extent of the network compared to 1. The generation of these mixed secondary and tertiary phosphine complexes is unprecedented. Under the same reaction conditions, the tris(hydroxypropyl)phosphine III formed no ruthenium complex. The reaction of P(CH2OH)3, P(C6H5)(CH2OH)2 and P{(CH2)3OH}3 with [RhCl(1,5-cod)]2 in an aqueous/dichloromethane biphasic medium yielded [RhH2(P(CH2OH)3)4]+ (3), [RhH2(P(C6H5)(CH2OH)2)4]+ (4) and [Rh(P(C6H5)(CH2OH)2)4]+ (5) and [Rh(P{(CH2)3OH}3)4]+ (6), respectively. Treating 5 with dihydrogen rapidly gave 4. The hydroxypropyl compound 6 formed the corresponding dihydride much more slowly in aqueous solution, although [RhH2(P{(CH2)3OH}3)4]+ (7) was readily formed by reaction with dihydrogen. Two separate reaction pathways are therefore involved; for P(CH2OH)3 and to a lesser extent P(C6H5)(CH2OH)2, the hydride source in the product is likely to be the aqueous solvent or the hydroxyl protons, whilst for P{(CH2)3OH}3 an oxidative addition of H2 is favoured. The protic nature of and was illustrated by the H-D exchange observed in d2-water. Dihydrides 3 and 4 reacted with carbon monoxide to yield the dicarbonyl cations [Rh(CO)2(P(CH2OH)3)3]+ (8) and [Rh(CO)2(P(C6H5)(CH2OH)2)3]+ (9). The analogous experiment with [RhH2(P{(CH2)3OH}3)4]+ resulted in phosphine exchange, although our experimental evidence points to the possibility of more than one fluxional process in solution.