1,1-diamino-2,2-diphenyl-substituted diphosphines featuring various degrees of P-P bond polarization with different alkynes were investigated. All diphosphines reacted with alkynes carrying one or two electron withdrawing carboxylic ester moieties under cleavage of the P-P bond and stereospecific phosphinyl-phosphination at the triple bond to give unsymmetrical ethane-1,2- bisphosphines. Several of