Syntheses and Crystal Structures of Copper and Silver Complexes with the Ylide Ph3PCHP(O)PPh2 as Ligand

The reactivity of the hydrolysis product of hexaphenylcarbodiphosphorane, PPh₃CHP(O)Ph₂, towards different soft Lewis acids, such as CuI and Ag[BF₄] are reported. While CuI exclusively binds at the ylidic carbon atom, reaction of the silver cation in CH₂Cl₂ leads to proton abstraction from the solvent to give the cation [PPh₃CH₂P(O)Ph₂]⁺. Surprisingly, Ag⁺ replaces the methyl group of [PPh₃CHMeP(O)Ph₂]⁺ to produce a dimeric complex, in which Ag⁺ is coordinated to C and O forming an eight membered ring. The compounds were characterized by spectroscopic methods and X‐ray diffraction.