THERMAL DEGRADATION OF DIMERS OF PHOSPHOLES

Abstract

The pathway followed by dimers of P-methylphospholes in their thermal degradation in solution is strongly dependent on the concentration. At low concentrations (around 0.04 M) in n-decane or toluene as solvent, decomposition is extensive after 17 h in the range 120–130°C. The major product is the P-methylphosphole from de-dimerization. At concentrations above 1.0 M, decomposition is faster and intermolecular interactions are more important. These interactions dominate over de-dimerization and lead to the loss of the bridging P in the 7-phosphanorbornene moiety to yield the cis-3a,7a-dihydrophosphindole system. From the dimer of 1,3-dimethylphosphole, isomeric dihydrophosphindoles are formed, which differ in location of the methyl group on the 6-membered ring and in configuration at phosphorus. These seem to result from attack by a phosphine group as a nucleophile on the bridging P, followed by bond rearrangements in the resulting phosphoranide ion. Decomposition was faster in the presence of tri-n-butylphosphine, which apparently acted as a catalyst through a similar mechanism. By using appropriate conditions each dihydrophosphindole isomer (1,3,5- or 1,3,7-trimethyl) could be made to predominate and this allowed their isolation. Characterization of the isomers and of some derivatives by ³¹P, ¹H, and ¹³C NMR techniques was performed. Most of the thermolysis products were highly complex mixtures and many minor products remain unidentified. The dimer of 1-phenyl-3-methyl-phosphole did not decompose to the phosphole, but the product composition was dependent on concentration.