Metal-free dehydropolymerisation of phosphine-boranes using cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes as hydrogen acceptors

Abstract

Polymers featuring p-block elements other than carbon are of interest for a range of applications, but access to highly-substituted examples remains challenging. Here the authors demonstrate that cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes can mediate the dehydropolymerisation of phosphine-boranes, leading to the construction of P-disubstituted polyphosphinoboranes.