Accessing the First nido-Carborane-Substituted Diphosphetane: A Ligand and Synthon for nido-Carboranylphosphanes.

Deboronation of a carborane-substituted diphosphetane 2 in toluene yielded the first nido-carboranyldiphosphetane 1. The P-P bond in 1 can be broken via dismutation reactions with diaryl dichalcogenides yielding nido-carboranyl bis-phosphanes that were not accessible via established synthetic protocols. Additionally, transition metal complexes of 1 could be isolated including one coordination polymer.