Experimental and computational investigations of arsenicIII and phosphorusIII complexes of bis(diphenylthiophosphinoyl)methanediide

The reactions of Li2[C(PPh2S)2] with EI3 (E = As, P) have been investigated in order to determine the nature of the coordination mode between the methanediide ligand and lighter pnictogens. Treatment of this reagent in toluene with AsI3 in a 1:1 M ratio produces the heteroleptic complex AsI[C(PPh2S)2] (2a), which was characterized by multinuclear NMR spectra and by a crystal structure determination. Attempts to isolate the phosphorus analogue …