An unusually stable chlorophosphite: What makes BIFOP–Cl so robust against hydrolysis?

Two chlorophosphites, the biphenyl-based BIFOP–Cl and the diphenyl ether-based O–BIFOP–Cl, exhibit striking differences regarding their reaction with water. While BIFOP–Cl is nearly completely unreactive, its oxo-derivative O–BIFOP–Cl reacts instantly with water, yielding a tricyclic hydrocarbon unit after rearrangement. The analysis of the crystal structure of O–BIFOP–Cl and BIFOP–Cl revealed that the large steric demand of encapsulating fenchane units renders the phosphorus atom nearly inaccessible by nucleophilic reagents, but only for BIFOP–Cl. In addition to the steric effect, a hypervalent P(III)–O interaction as well as an electronic conjugation effect causes the high reactivity of O–BIFOP–Cl. A DFT study of the hydrolysis in BIFOP–Cl verifies a higher repulsive interaction to water and a decreased leaving tendency of the chloride nucleofuge, which is caused by the fenchane units. This high stability of BIFOP–Cl against nucleophiles supports its application as a chiral ligand, for example, in Pd catalysts.