A Property-Matched Water-Soluble Analogue of the Benchmark Ligand PPh3

A series of sulfonated biphenylphosphanes were readily prepared from commercially available, inexpensive, and air-stable organic compounds. Of these, the trisuffonated trisbiphenylphosphane can be considered as a true water-soluble analogue of PPh3 as the cone angle and basicity of both phosphanes are very close and result in a similar coordination mode on palladium and rhodium complexes. The catalytic performance of the trisulfonated trisbiphenylphosphane was evaluated in the aqueous hydroformylation of 1-decene and the Tsuji-Trost reaction.