PBP bridged [3]ferrocenophane: a bisphosphanylborane with a redox trigger

Abstract

Stereospecific access to the unprecedented P–B–P bridged [3]ferrocenophane Fe(C₅H₄PtBu)₂BMes is presented. In contrast to acyclic ferrocenylphosphanes, we find evidence for a shift of spin-density from Fe to P upon pyramidal inversion of the P centers in the mono-cation; the latter has a lifetime of τ = 0.31(4) s.