SCRAMBLING REACTIONS BETWEEN BORON AND VARIOUS PHOSPHORUS MOIETIES - B(NET2)3-PCL3, B(NET2)3-OPCL3 AND B(NET2)3-SPCL3 SYSTEMS

A 31P, 11B and 1H NMR study of the scrambling reactions between tris (diethylamino) boron B[N(C2H5)2]3 and PCl3, OPCl3 and SPCl3 shows that the mixed species QCl3-n (NEt2)n [Q = B, P, OP or SP and n = 1 or 2] are more favoured than would be the case if a completely random mechanism was involved. In the PCl3/B[N(C2H5)2]3 system the chlorine substituents display preferential affinity for phosphorus moieties over boron centers while the reverse situation is encountered in the two other systems involving quadruply coordinated phosphorus. The Lewis acidity of boron and the effective electronegativity of phosphorus moieties may explain these trends. © 1978.