Experimental and theoretical study on palladium-catalyzed C-P bond formation via direct coupling of triarylbismuths with P(O)-H compounds.

A novel and highly efficient Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling of triarylbismuths with a variety of P(O)-H compounds has been developed that proceeds smoothly without exclusion of moisture or air and provides a general and powerful tool for the preparation of various valuable arylphosphonates, arylphosphinates, and arylphosphine oxides, with high atom-economy, operational simplicity of the procedure, and good to high yield. The coupling reaction is the first example of transition-metal-catalyzed C-P bond construction using triarylbismuth compounds as substrates. DFT calculations reveal that C-P bond formation is the rate-determing step.