A Nucleophilicity Scale for the Reactivity of Diazaphospholenium Hydrides: Structural Insights and Synthetic Applications

Nucleophilicity parameters (N, s_N ) of a group of representative diazaphospholenium hydrides were derived by kinetic investigations of their hydride transfer to a series of reference electrophiles with known electrophilicity (E) values, using the Mayr equation log k₂ =s_N (N+E). The N scale covers over ten N units, ranging from the most reactive hydride donor (N=25.5) to the least of the scale (N=13.5). This discloses the highest N value ever quantified in terms of Mayr's nucleophilicity scales reported for neutral transition-metal-free hydride donors and implies an exceptional reactivity of this reagent. Even the least reactive hydride donor of this series is still a better hydride donor than those of many other nucleophiles such as the C-H, B-H, Si-H and transition-metal M-H hydride donors. Structure-reactivity analysis reveals that the outstanding hydricity of 2-H-1,3,2-diazaphospholene benefits from the unsaturated skeleton.