Unprecedented Reactivity of Iridium(I) Secondary Phosphine Oxide Complexes: Formation of P-Coordinated Phosphinate Complexes by P-Aryl Bond Cleavage

Aryl-iridium(III) hydride complexes with a P-coordinated phosphinate were formed from [Ir(cod)Cl](2) and secondary phosphine oxide-oxazoline ligands under basic conditions. The structure of these complexes, whose formation involved C-P cleavage, was assigned by X-ray analysis and NMR spectroscopy.