Organophosphinidene in a T-Shaped Environment

We report the isolation and characterization of a singlet organophosphinidene supported by a rigid 1,8-disubstituted anthracenyl group. This ligand scaffold weakly stabilizes the P(+1) state through weak, ultralong intramolecular P···N interactions among the two flanking amines and the central P atom. The electronic structure and phosphinidene nature of the compound are described by an in-depth computational analysis and targeted reactivity studies, which reveal behavior closely analogous to that of singlet phosphinidene sources.