Substituent effects in second row molecules: Molecular orbital studies of phosphorus(III) compounds

Substituent effects in directly bonded P(III) compounds are investigated by ab initio MO calculations of relative energies and the results compared with those for the corresponding nitrogen species. The investigation covers substitution by X = BH₂, CH₃, NH₂, OH, F in PHX^-, PH₂X, and PH₃X⁺ series molecules with some attention also to PX₃ and PX₃H⁺ species. Except for compounds containing the π-acceptor substituent BH₂, σ-interactions dominate substitution behaviour but the second row species tolerate electron withdrawal better than their first row analogues, the severe destabilization of NH₂X and NH₃X⁺ by σ-electron withdrawal being absent from PH₂X and PH₃X⁺. In contrast to the σ-withdrawing NH₂ group, the PH₂ group is characterized as a mild σ-donor. PH^- is a σ-donor and PH⁺₃ a σ-acceptor. π-Bonding to the second row atom is an important means of maintaining electroneutrality in the PH₃X⁺ series, where dπ functions have a bigger role than pπ functions.