Cationic P-S-X cages (X=Br, I)

The first condensed-phase preparation of ternary P-Ch-X cations (Ch=O-Te, X=F-I) is reported: [P5S3X2]+, [P5S2X2]+, and [P4S4X]+ (X=Br, I). [P5S3X2]+ is formed from the reaction of the Ag+/PX3 reagent with P4S3. The [P5S3X2]+ ions have a structure that is related to P4S5 by replacing P=S by P+-X and S in the four-membered ring by P(X). We provide evidence that the active ingredient of the Ag+/PX3 reagent is the (H2CCl2)Ag-X-PX2+ cation. The latter likely reacts with the HOMO of P4S3 in a concerted HOMO-LUMO addition to give the P5S3X2+ ion as the first species visible in situ in the low-temperature 31P NMR spectrum. The [P5S3X2]+ ions are metastable at -78 °C and disproportionate at slightly higher temperatures to give [P5S2X2]+ and [P4S4X]+, probably with the extrusion of 1/n (PX)n (X=Br, I). All six new cage compounds have been characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and, in part, by IR or Raman spectroscopy. The [P5S2X2]+ salts have a nortricyclane skeleton and were also characterized by X-ray crystallography. The structure of the [P4S4X]+ ion is related to that of P4S5 in that the exo-cage P=S bond is replaced by an isoelectronic P+-X moiety.