Phosphorus Lewis acids: emerging reactivity and applications in catalysis

Part of the renaissance in main group chemistry has been a result of the focus on reactivity. This has led to the development of applications in stoichiometric reactivity and catalysis. In this tutorial review, we focus attention on the role of phosphorus-based Lewis acids in such advances. While early literature recognizes the role of P(III) and P(V) electrophiles in coordination chemistry, it has generally been more recent studies that have focused on applications of this Lewis acidity. Applications of these novel P-based Lewis acids in stoichiometric reactivity, Lewis acid catalysis and frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) reactivity are reviewed. These advances demonstrate that P-based Lewis acids are a powerful tool for further developments in metal-free catalysis.