Replacing the apical nitrogen donor with phosphorus in tripyridyl amine (TPA) has been predicted to expand the scope of reactivity for the corresponding metal complexes. However, a TPA congener with a phosphorus apical donor has been synthetically elusive. In this presentation, a facile synthesis of a phosphorus analog of TPA, tri(pyridylmethyl)azaphosphatrane (TPAP), will be shown. Metallation with Co(II) displayed tetradentate chelation of TPAP, forming 6-membered chelate rings. This work demonstrates the importance of the length of the N-C<sub>n</sub>-P linkage for tetradentate coordination. Additionally, the electronic property of the phosphorus donor of TPAP was evaluated by measuring the Tolman Electron Parameter (TEP) of commercially available proazaphosphatranes.

Incorporating a proazaphosphatrane donor into a tripodal ligand

251st National Meeting (2016)

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