Disclosed herein is the first protocol for the electrochemically oxidative phosphating of aldehydes and ketones to generate α-hydroxyphosphine oxides with diphenylphosphine as the phosphine source. Various phosphating products containing P–C bonds are basically assembled in modest to excellent yields. This electrochemical phosphating was achieved by utilizing a simple undivided cell with foam nickel
A series of -hydroxyphosphine oxides were prepared by the reactions of diphenylphosphine oxide and aromatic carbonyl compounds and characterized by H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, P-31 NMR, FT-IR, ESI-MS, and HR-MS spectra. The reaction rates and experimental conditions of aromatic aldehydes and aromatic ketones were obviously different due to the activity of their carbonyls. The different substituents of the aromatic aldehydes affected the reaction rate too, and the quantitative reactivity of their substituent conformed to the Hammett equation. The results were confirmed by P-31 NMR spectroscopy.
Visible-Light-Induced α-C(sp<sup>3</sup>)–H Phosphinylation of Unactivated Ethers under Photocatalyst- and Additive-Free Conditions