Phosphoric acid as a precursor to chemicals traditionally synthesized from white phosphorus

Silicon clears a wet path to phosphines Phosphoric acid is produced on a massive scale for fertilizer by treating phosphate rock with sulfuric acid. In contrast, preparation of more elaborate phosphorus compounds used in chemical catalysis, pharmaceutical, and battery applications requires laborious generation and chlorination of elemental phosphorus. Geeson and Cummins now show that phosphoric acid may also be a practical source of such compounds (see the Perspective by Protasiewicz). They isolated and characterized a phosphide salt derived from treatment of dehydrated phosphoric acid with trichlorosilane, a compound already used at the commercial scale to produce high-purity silicon. The salt proved to be a versatile precursor for a range of alkylated and fluorinated phosphorus compounds. Science , this issue p. 1383 ; see also p. 1333