Diphosphination of Arynes with Diphosphines

A diphosphination of arynes with diphosphines has been developed. The reaction of stable aryne precursors, 2-(trimethylsilyl)aryl triflates, with tetraaryldiphosphines proceeds in the presence of fluorine- or carbonate-based activators to deliver the corresponding diphosphinated products, sterically and electronically tuned 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene (dppbz) derivatives, which can find wide application in transition metal catalysis and material science. Additionally, preliminary computational studies on the reaction mechanism are also reported.